The Lion of the Rings: The Two Journeys
by WTF123
Summary: Following the tragedy at the Misty Mountains, Kopa and Vitani have broken off from the fellowship to take the One Ring to Mordor on their own. And the rest of the group has been in deep search for Kiara and Kovu while they could still be alive. But soon, dark forces will rise from Mordor and Isengard, as well as the return of an old, horrific enemy long thought to be dead...
1. Foundations of Stone

**I do not own The Lion King or The Lord of the Rings. They belong to Walt Disney Studios and Peter Jackson/New Line Cinema/J.R.R. Tolkien respectively.**

* * *

**Chapter I: Foundations of Stone**

_"Simba! Simba, reach for my paw!" Nala said as she tried to reach down for him. But after she did, Simba began to precariously slip further and further downwards against the crumbling rock. He looked up in terror, and gave them a very solemn look. It took them a second, but they figured out that that look was supposed to mean. Nala was the first to react._

_"No... no, Simba don't! Don't you give up on me!"_

_Simba's expression grew in sadness. "Nala... it's too late for me" he said in a low, grim tone. Kopa, Vitani and Nala all gasped in shock and horror when he said this._

_Vitani said to him, "Don't say that, Simba! You can still-!"_

_"You're more important than me, all of you. You have to save yourselves... I can't get out of this." Simba said in an even more grim tone._

_Despite the icy conditions, tears were rolling down Nala's face now. She looked deeply into Simba's eye from far below and returned the look of sadness. She was beginning to accept the inevitable._

_"Nala... I always loved you..." said Simba. At the mention of this, Nala began to sob. "Simba... I... I loved you too." she managed to choke out. Just after that, Simba slipped down further, almost loosing grip of the mountain from the still crumbling rocks._

_"Kopa... you need to get to Mordor. Make it there... for me." Simba said. Like his mother, Kopa was crying like he hadn't in so long. Vitani was also crying as well, and she put her head against Kopa's mane. It was freezing, but it was still warm compared to everything else._

_"Dad... I love you." said Kopa. They couldn't see it since he was so far down now, but Simba was beginning to cry as well. Collecting himself, he continued. "When you get to Mount Doom... you know what to do. If it's not... for the sake of Middle Earth, do it in my memory..."_

_Kopa replied, "I will, dad. I... I love you."_

_Simba 's grip was weakening with every second that went by, but was able to utter these words to his son. "When you get back... to the Pride Lands... you'll be king, Kopa. King... of everything the light touches."_

_He then gave his sad look to them all, and finally said, "I love you all.", and in his mind, he thought, I'm coming home, father._

_And then his grip on the mountain failed entirely. With a loud ripping of rock sound, Simba slid off and fell through the air, awaiting whatever was at the bottom of the chasm. And the others above just stood there in absolute disbelief and horror at what they'd just witnessed._

_Simba!" Nala screamed. Her cry of terror echoed throughout the landscape, bouncing off of mountainside for miles around. They all gasped and the tears intensified. They all huddled close together one another for comfort. At that moment, none of the could've cared less about warmth. Just then, Kivuli and the others appeared from behind._

_"What's going on?" he asked them._

_"Where's Simba?" said Timon. But Nala, Kopa and Vitani took little notice of them as they stared down into the blurred, blizzard filled canyon. The last glimpse of Simba was gone. And soon, the wave of inevitability came upon not just Kopa and Nala, but to everyone else at that moment._

_Simba was dead. Much like Mufasa, he died trying to save his son. Like father like son._

_For Kopa, there was only one thing he could've possibly said at that moment._

_"NOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

Kopa's eyes flew open as he awoke from his nightmare, standing up on all fours now. He was furiously catching his breath, looking all around him. It was still the middle of the night. To his left was Vitani, still sleeping peacefully beneath the stars. All around them, the warm mountainsides seemed to stretch up against the sky for miles around. And finally catching his breath, Kopa realized it was just a dream, though it was a dream of something that sadly was not.

"Just a dream... I wish." he solemnly whispered to himself.

It had been a full month since Kopa and Vitani had broken away from the fellowship. And much to their dismay, no matter how far they got each day, Mount Doom never seemed to get any closer. It could be faintly seen in the distance beyond the borders of Mordor, but it never got any larger. The land of the shadow must've been farther away than they thought it was when they broke off.

Kopa sighed. He lifted up his paw, and held the one Ring of Power against his chest. The thing that was small enough to fit in the palm of his paw was solely responsible for his father's noble death. Although Saruman had done what caused it, it was the ring that was truly the root cause. Kopa stared out into the direction of the tiny orange-red glow. He knew that if they ever reached there, he was going to take immense pleasure in throwing the ring back into the heart of it.

His drowsiness beginning to overcome him once more, he laid back down on the ground next to his mate, and placed his head atop of hers, getting comfortable once more. The last thing that the lion saw before falling into sleep once more was, once again, the deep orange glow of Mordor against the deep blue, almost blackness of the night sky.

* * *

The following day, Kopa and Vitani continued their journey through the Misty Mountains. Compared to the Pass of Caradhras, the air was warm and moist, and not a flake of snow fell any more. The sky was riddled with light grey clouds, blocking out much of the blue skies that lay above. The winds were soft and harmless, though still strong enough to ruffle the fur of Kopa's mane. The two of them climbed over the rocky terrain, being mindful about every step that they took. Occasionally one of them would stumble or lose their balance, but for the most part it wasn't too difficult to traverse. The dark grey mountains were beginning to fall over the next few miles, as if the mountain range were nearly at an end.

Soon, they had gone over a steep cliffside and reached the top of it. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath, looking out to the mountain of fire. Vitani narrowed her eyes at the sight of it.

"Mordor... the one place in Middle Earth we don't want to see any further, and the one place we're trying to get to." she said. Kopa looked over to her. "It won't be long now." he commented. Vitani sighed.

"It hasn't been getting any closer, Kopa. We've been going through these mountains for a month, and it hasn't gotten any nearer."

She leaped off the summit of the rocky foundation and onto a lower slope, looking all around her.

"Let's face it, Kopa... we're lost."

Kopa soon cilmbed down to her, and now they stood side by side.

"I don't think Simba meant for us to come this way." she continued. Then Kopa gave her a sad, but determined look.

"He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Vitani." he said. "But they did."

In that moment, Kopa saw something. It was only for a flash of a second, but he saw the entire world around him change in an instant to the dreaded eye of Sauron. Like the first time he saw it, it was rimmed with fire, and had the piercing black slit down the middle, staring at him intently. He gasped as this happened, and he fell to the ground. Vitani was startled by this.

"Kopa!... It's the ring, isn't it?" she said, looking down to him. Kopa gathered the strength to get up, and he clutched the ring with his left paw. Since the incident at Bree, the wound on his paw had healed rather nicely, and was almost invisible now, save for a few red streaks across it.

"It's getting heavier, Vitani... every day now, I see the eye of Sauron in my mind... as if he's invading my consciousness..."

Vitani came up to Kopa and softly nuzzled him again. Kopa returned the comfort.

"It won't be long... we'll get there." she said to him. And with that, the the lion and the lioness went onwards down the rocky slopes. The mountains weren't nearly as high here as they were before, so it was becoming gradually easier to move through them.

"Vitani... I've been thinking about something." The lion said to her. Vitani asked, "What?"

"Do you remember the day Simba... well, you know."

Vitani nodded.

"Well... I remember just before he died, I heard a huge roar through the air. What do you think it was?"

The lioness replied after a moment, "I'm not sure. But... you know what?... I can't help but feel that I've heard that roar before."

Kopa perked up. "Really? Where?" he said.

"I don't know. Whoever it was, it isn't important now." She replied.

As they walked, Kopa looked around and raised his eyebrow at certain features of the landscape.

"You know, this place looks familiar." he said. Vitani came to a sudden stop by his side and looked around intensely as well. Her eyes widened somewhat.

"We _have_ been here before! We're going in circles." she said, taking a deep breath. Kopa looked around and saw what she meant.

"You're right. We've-"

The lion never finished that sentance. For as he was speaking, he heard a few small rocks crumble near a massive rock behind them. The sound got both of their attention and they stayed quiet. As they looked around the landscape, they began to pick up a horrid smell of some sort. It was unlike any scent they had known before, smelling like some sort of rotting flesh or a long dead body.

"Do you smell that?" Kopa asked. Vitani replied, "It smells like something died here." she said, cringing at the scent. Suddenly, Kopa whispered to his mate,

"We're not alone here."

Abruptly, the sound of falling stones could be heard again, only this time louder than before. Kopa got in front of Vitani, where they both looked out into the direction of the sound. They could now hear uneven and muffled breathing, as though someone who was horribly sick was following them.

"Stay back." Kopa whispered. He didn't know whether he meant for Vitani stay stay back for safety, or for whoever this intruder was to stay back from them. He crouched down to the ground and tensed up, ready to attack whoever was there.

"Who are you?" he shouted, echoing around the mountains. "Don't come any closer, we're more than capable of killing you if you attack!"

And then suddenly, a voice called out. It wasn't like any voice either one of them had heard before, it sounded deformed, fierce, and high pitched, while at the same time sounding as if it were sick. As the voice hissed, it got ever louder to them, as if whoever it was was coming closer down the pathway they were treading down. It hissed,

"The thieves! The thieves! The filthy little thieves! Where is it? Where isss it? They stole it from us. My preciousss! Curse them! We hates them! It is ours, it is... and we wantssss it!"

* * *

**Author's Note: I probably don't have to tell you who that voice belonged to, do I? Please review to find out in the next chapter!**


	2. The Taming of Gollum

**Chapter II: The Taming of Gollum**

The mysterious voice echoed against the cliff walls around them. Kopa, now becoming extremely defensive for his mate, he sprang across the stone path and lurched forward to the source of the voice. Running down the path, he soon found that it was coming from deep inside of a small cave they had just passed by. Kopa roared as he leaped forward into the darkness of the cave, shadowing the sunlight from him. After landing on the ground, he realized that he had someone- or something pinned to the ground now. Whatever it was, it was struggling like crazy to get off the ground. It tried to force himself upwards, wriggling all around to get free, but Kopa's strength was too much for it. Its screams of anger hurt his ears wildly, especially since they were bouncing off the walls of the cave. It kept on saying over and over again,

"My precious! Give us back the precious!"

The two of them were now struggling against one another, with the creature starting to hit Kopa with all his might, squirming around for dear life. But before the creature could get itself free, Vitani ran into the cave. She would've wanted to say something about the situation, but seeing Kopa struggle so violently against the creature discouraged her to. She ran up to them, and soon she bit down on the creature's arm hard, making him shriek with pain. Vitani ripped the creature out of Kopa's grasp and tried to fling him against the side of the cave. But before the lioness could do so, the creature lifted his head up and bit down on her neck. Vitani grunted and came close to screaming in pain, but she endured it and tried to fight back. But in the darkness, she couldn't see where it was, and attempts to strike him with her claws were futile. Eventually, Vitani fell down onto her back, with the creature still biting down on her neck.

Even in the cave, Kopa could see the blood beginning to trickle down from her. Furiously enraged by this, he roared as he lurched forward and once again pinned the creature to the ground. Whatever it was, it was breathing heavily, almost ready to give out now. Kopa looked down upon him with anger, and he pressed his paw down against its stomach, forcing him down. The creature's teeth were still upon Vitani's neck, refusing to let go.

In the dark, he could hardly tell what this creature looked like. But by now he was having his own ideas as to who this really was.

"The ring... you've seen it before, haven't you?... Gollum." he said menacingly. "Let her go or I'll slice your throat faster than you can blink!"

Vitani looked down at him as well. There was really no doubt about it anymore- this was Gollum, the same creature Bilbo Baggins had encountered so long ago... the one who had possessed the ring for 500 years, just as the legend had said.

Slowly but surely, Gollum released his grip against the lioness, and immediately she stood back up, rubbing her neck with her paw.

"Are you alright?" Kopa asked her.

"I'm alright. It isn't too bad." she replied.

The two of them now looked upon the helpless Gollum. He was shaking in fear, almost expecting them to attack again.

"So... this is Gollum." Kopa whispered.

Vitani whispered back, "And I thought Zira put up a good fight."

* * *

Minutes later, Kopa walked back out of the cave into the sunlight, With Vitani following behind. She pulled Gollum along by his arm, her dragging him in her teeth like he was a day's prey back at the Pride Lands. The poor creature was wailing like crazy, almost too much for either of them to bear. He screamed especially loud once he got out into the sun.

"It burns! It burns us!" he shouted. "Lets us go! Please, let us go!" he shouted. Through gritted teeth, Vitani said to him,

"Oh, _shut up already_! Just be lucky I'm not biting down harder!"

Kopa stoped in the middle of the stone pathway and looked back at the two of them. In the daylight, they could now see Gollum's appearance quite clearly. If he had really been around for 500 years, he sure looked like it. His skin was a dull shade of grey, and save for a few single hair strands on his head, he had no hair or fur anywhere. His ears were slightly pointed like that of an elf's. He walked around on all fours, even though he looked as though he was meant to walk on two. His arms and legs were almost as thin as bone, as if he hadn't eaten anything in deades. He looked absolutely food and water deprived, and his head was round and smooth. His teeth were neither sharp nor flat- they were deformed and rotten, as though he were suited to eating fish. The only thing he was wearing was a worn out brown cloth.

Vitani looked back up at Kopa and said through gritted teeth. "It's hopeless, Kopa! They can probably hear us back at the Pride Lands for God sakes! Let's just let him go and get the hell out of here!"

Gollum then pled in his raspy, deformed voice, "No! That would kill us! Kill us!"

"Better than what you deserve!" snapped Vitani. By this point, Kopa had more or less calmed down from the situation. His expression towards the poor creature had changed from anger to that of pity.

"You know", he started. "He might deserve that... but now that I actually see him... I do feel kind of sorry for him."

Gollum took this chance to try and beg his way out of this. His voice became sorrowful and sad, pleading to them both,

"We be nice to them if they be nice to us! Let us go! We swears to do what you wants, we swears!"

Vitani snickered. "Yeah, like we can really trust you."

"We swears to serve the master of the precious", he went on. "We swears on... on the precious!"

Suddenly, he made a sound that sounded like he was choking for a moment. It sounded like he was trying to cough up something, but it also sounded like a word. 'gollum, gollum' they heard. It was no wonder where he got his name now.

Kopa continued to look down reluctantly to Gollum. He took a few steps closer to them both, with Vitani still biting down on his arm.

"What do you think, Kopa? What'll we do with him?" she asked. The lion said to Gollum,

"This ring is dangerous. It's gonna hold you to your word." he said.

Gollum nodded rapidly. "Yes... on the preciousss... on the preciousss..."

"You can't be serious about this!" said Vitani. "He's trying to trick us, I know it! I let him go and he'll slit our throats in our sleep!... I don't trust him!"

Gollum was very clearly frightened by now. He was panting deeply for air, when Kopa said to him softly and rather calmly,

"Do you know the way to Mordor?"

He nodded warily. "Yes..." he said.

"You've been there before?" asked Kopa. Gollum said nothing as he nodded once more. Kopa gave Vitani a bit of a hopeful look. She shook her head in annoyance and sighed as her teeth released their grip upon Gollum's arm. As soon as she did, Gollum moved around again, running around on all fours. He began to laugh in pleasure at his new freedom. He climbed up atop a small rock nearby, and looked back down at them both.

"You are going to take us to the Black Gate." he said. Gollum nodded as he climbed back down the rock towards them. Vitani gave a sort of annoyed look at Kopa.

"I hope you know what you're doing." she said with a quiet voice. Kopa replied, "We've been going in circles. If he knows the way, we might just get out of this alive."

Soon after that, the two of them followed Gollum down the pathway, who was running down it on all fours. Very clearly now, they could see he was most definitely meant to walk on just two like a man or a hobbit.

"And besides", Kopa went on. "He doesn't know _why_ we're going to Mordor. Let's keep it that way."

"I don't trust him." said Vitani as they walked onward. "And besides... who's this _we_ he's been talking about?"

Kopa shook his head, and then leaned in closer to her. "I don't trust him either", he whispered. "I'm only trusting him because we have to. If we're ever going to see the Pride Lands, Simba or the cubs ever again, he's our only hope."

Vitani decided to end the conversation after that. She and Kopa walked onward down the stony pathway, hoping for the best as to what was to come.

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**Author's Note: Sorry this was so short, the next chapter will be longer, I promise. Please review!**


	3. The Uruk Hai

**Author's Note: How ironic was it that I wrote the beginning of this while the "I Just Can't Wait to be King" scene from the first movie was playing?**

* * *

**Chapter III: The Uruk Hai**

Amidst the fiery, smoke riddled caverns of Isengard stood the Tower of Orthanc, still as imposing as always. All around the tower, the natural trees of the countryside were being violently ripped up from their roots by the orcs and trolls being bred around them. They ripped them out of the dirt with chains, pushing and pulling them down into the rough trenches for fuel to feed the fires. Within these trenches, the army of Isengard was nearly complete being bred. The orcs, some of the ugliest creatures ever known, were freshly forging and wielding swords, pouring the glowing, molten iron into their casts to form them. The sounds of industry and clanging, burning, and screaming in pain from orcs was rampant, and spread out all around the Tower of Orthanc. All of this being commanded by Sauron himself.

Saruman the White was within his dark, nearly unlit chamber in the tower, standing in the center of the room, where the Palantir rested. Saruman slowly rose his hand over the black, glass-like orb and then spoke in his deep voice,

"The world is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor? To stand against the might of Sauron, Saruman, and the union of the two towers?"

Within the Palantir, the fiery eye of Saurn was now clear in view. It was staring lidless, as Saruman continued.

"Together, my lord Sauron, we will rule this Middle Earth. The old world will burn in the fires of industry. The forests will fall. A new order will rise. We will drive the machine of war with the sword, the spear, and the iron fist of the Orc... we have only to remove those who oppose us."

Within the shadows of the chamber, a harsh, demented female voice lashed out at Saruman.

"And what of the ring bearer?" she said. Saruman turned to her. "Patience, Zira. The time is near. The army of Isengard is nearing completion."

At last, the source of the voice made herself known. She walked up to him out from the shadows, and her form was now clear as day in the dim light.

It was Zira, once Simba's most feared and loathed enemy.

A part of her ear had been bitten off, though blood no longer fell from it. Her fur pelt was of a dark shade of beige, with a darker shaded spike-like figure running down to in between her eyes. Her fur was of a lighter shade on her stomach and underside, much like Kovu or Kiara. And speaking of her eyes, they were perhaps the most unspeakably unsettling and piercing eyes known to Middle Earth, save for the eye of Sauron. They glowed a deep, dark yellow in the dim light, topped off with pupils sharing the same exact color as her own blood. They would strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors. And although Saruman would never admit this, even he was slightly unnerved by the sight of her very eyes. If the eye of Sauron wasn't composed of fire, Zira's eyes were what it would've looked like.

"And I have recently received news that may just please you." Saruman continued. "The Nazgul have returned to Minas Morgul. And in spite of their defeat at Weathertop, they have managed to slay those wretched hyenas you requested them to. And if the eye of Sauron is to be believed, our attempt on Simba's life has been successful."

Zira gave a wicked, demented smile and laughed to herself. She said, "Four bastards down, eight to go."

"I have began sending out legions of the orc armies out to execute the destruction." Saruman said as he paced back to his throne. "It will begin in Rohan. Too long have those peasants stood against them. But no longer."

"Then Rohan is ready to fall." replied Zira.

* * *

In the snow riddled passageways through the mountains, Kiara, Kovu and Kifo walked with one another to find the rest of the fellowship. At the moment, they were treading along a long, vast snowy plateau right next to the slope of one of the mountains that seemed to touch the very sky itself. The sky was covered in light grey clouds, where little sunlight could get through.

Kovu was at the front of the small group. As he walked, he looked up to the clouds with some sadness. For an entire week now, the search for the others had been fruitless. They had yet to even find any softened or faded footprints in the snow, let alone any of the individual members. But as Kovu looked up to the sunless sky, this was not the chief thought in his mind. Kifo, who had now come up next to him noticed his sad look, and then said,

"Kovu, what's wrong?"

The lion looked over to him. "Nothing, dad. It's just... well..."

"Yes? What is it?" Kifo asked. Finally replying, Kovu said to his father, "It's just... I should've never run away from them to begin with. I was stupid, I should've just apologized on the spot."

He turned to Kiara, who was looking at him with rather sad looking eyes. "I put myself through this, I put you through this... Heck, I almost died back in that blizzard before Kifo found me."

Kovu turned his attention back to the sky. "And I consider it fate that you even found Kiara at all, dad."

Kifo took a deep breath and said to his son, "Well, Kovu... I may not have been there to witness what you did, but I do know this: Even if you hadn't done it, you two would be no better off. You would still be stuck in the mountains and the snow, I didn't change that. And perhaps you're better off, even. If you are no longer around the Ring bearer, the enemies that hunt him will no longer be after you too... perhaps it was luck that the Ring took over you."

Kovu perked up and gave his father a surprised look. "What makes you say that?"

"If you hadn't attacked Kivuli, I never would've found you."

Kovu smiled at that comment. "Well if it's like that... maybe the Ring has some good in it after all."

"Not that it was meant to.", commented Kiara. "You took the most evil thing in existence, and managed to make some good of it. That takes a lot, Kovu... Kifo..." she went on, smiling at them warmly. Kovu returned the smile at her. And with that, the conversation ended. The three of them went on walking through the snow which was high enough to bury their paws with each step they took.

They passed by a pathway at the side of another mountain to their left after some time. The light grey clouds were getting thicker, suggesting that snow would soon fall once more. A sudden wind then came over the mountainside, sweeping particles of snow all around them. Kovu shivered at the freezing wind, hitting him like knives. They went onward still.

"You know something?", Kiara started. "I'm actually starting to get used to the cold around here."

Kifo turned to his daughter-in-law and smiled. "That's good, Kiara. That can be a useful thing to do when you live around these parts. What about you, Kovu?" he said.

Kovu replied, "Well... I can't say I hate it anymore." he said reluctantly, still shivering from the wind. They went onwards still for about two hours, until finally, they found what they had been looking for- sort of. Kifo had gone far ahead of them to look for any evidence of the others, when, within the snow, he found the faded, softened paw tracks of what looked like lions. He looked at them closely for a moment, studying them to make sure they weren't his own. He made a single paw print mark next to the one in the snow, and looked at them both side by side. They were most definitely not the same.

"Look! There are tracks here!" he called back to them. Immediately, Kiara and Kovu sprang forward at Kifo and looked down to the same paw prints he had spotted. Their faces lit up with excitement as they did.

"It's them! I've seen those tracks before!" Kovu said with excitement. Kiara agreed.

"Those look like my brother's tracks all right!" she said. "Come on! Let's follow them!" she said with enthusiasm, jumping ahead to see where they led. Kifo said to her,

"Lead the way, Kiara."

And with that, she sprang forth at a faster pace than before. Kifo and Kovu followed behind as they went on past the grey mountains around them. Kiara led the way, following the tracks that, according to her at least, belonged to Kopa. However, Kifo looked up with a very puzzled and confused expression.

"Something isn't right here." he said.

"What do you mean, dad?" asked Kovu. His father replied, "Well, you said that the others were up to the north from here. These tracks go south. And..."

He leaned in closer to the faded tracks as they walked. "...I may not be an expert on paw prints, but it almost looks like two separate tracks going side by side here."

Kovu leaned in to them and squinted to see. But sure enough, some of them did look different.

"Hey you know, these kind of look like Vitani's prints." he said with genuine curiosity. "I don't see anyone else's tracks here."

Kovu looked up and called for his mate. "Hey Kiara!"

The lioness ran back to the two lions and stopped in front of Kovu.

"Yeah?"

"Have you taken a good look at these tracks? It looks like there's only two sets of them here." Kovu said. Kiara looked down at them hard, and then saw it. "Hey yeah, there _are _only two sets here. I don't see the others' prints anywhere."

After a moment, she asked Kovu, "Then... what does that mean?"

Kovu hesitated. "I don't know."

Days passed. They had decided to find more tracks of some sort before jumping to any conclusions. They decided that their best bet was to find any tracks from a larger group of lions before assuming to follow them. Chiefly, however, they were focusing on finding any paw prints that belonged to Simba. But this proved to be a grave mistake, since they had no idea that his tracks were no longer among them.

* * *

At Isengard, Saruman and Zira had left the chamber within the Tower of Orthanc, and they were both standing in the depth of one of the many fiery trenches around the tower. Orcs and trolls were everywhere, still preparing for war as always. As they spoke, orcs had invaded the kingdom of Rohan and were burning down innocent villages that never deserved it. Saruman and Zira were in the midst of a gathering of Dunlanders, orcs who were ready to be set out. The orcs had pointed ears like elves, but their flesh was rotted and untamed, and its color ranged anywhere from green to red. Their eyes were small, and each of them carried heavy chains, spears, freshly forged weapons, among other unspeakable weaponry. The noise of the hell they were in made them have to speak loudly so that the orcs could hear what they had to say.

"You are to traverse to the Misty Mountains, near the Pass of Caradhras. There, you must capture a male lion and a female lioness. They will most likely be together when you find them." Saruman spoke. Zira took a step forward and finished for him.

"Capture them, and make _absolute sure _that they don' escape!" she hissed. "Bring them here, and I will deal with them myself!"

Saruman clutched onto his staff. "It is of upmost importance that they are also brought here alive and unspoiled. But to any who oppose you, do as you wish." he said. And within minutes, the small group of 25 orcs set out of Isengard, and went through the trenches and remaining trees of Isengard, on the hunt for the lion and the lioness. It wasn't apparent to the orcs, but Saruman and Zira were referring to Kopa and Vitani, the ones who were going to Mordor. But now, it was a question of which lion and which lioness they would catch at the Misty Mountains...


	4. A Plan in Motion

**Chapter IV: A Plan in Motion**

Many more days passed. Darkness fell upon the Misty Mountains. The stars in the night sky were shining vibrantly as always, and the full moon was glowing against them radiantly. The moonlight touched upon the cold, deep snow on the mountainsides, and even seemed to illuminate the place in a way. Among the many mountains that the moonlight shone upon was the cave entrance that Kifo, Kiara and Kovu were residing in. They had gone back there after the day's search for the others, which once again turned up no trace of any living things besides themselves and some stray elk around the mountains. And although the search had seemed hopeless at that point, they were not one to give up so easily.

At the moment, the three of them were near the back of the cave, gnawing on what remained of a dead elk Kiara had managed to hunt for and catch earlier. They had eaten scarcely since Kifo had found them, so they took immense pleasure as they ate.

Kiara sat across from Kovu as they ate. She swallowed another chunk of meat, and the said to him, "You know? I usually wouldn't eat stuff like this… but it's not bad, actually."

Kovu smiled at her. "I know, it's pretty good, actually."

Kifo said to him, "That's called adaptation, Kovu. You are going to need this food if any of us are going to survive out here."

Kovu looked over at his father with a bit of awe in his face and said, "You sure know how to live up here."

Kifo replied, "Instinct, my son. It can save your life when you need it."

With that, Kovu continued to bite down on the bloody chunks of meat off of the elk's carcass. Wen he'd gulped down an especially large scrap of meat, he looked up at Kiara. For some odd reason, Kovu noticed that she wasn't eating all that much. She looked almost sad in a way. She looked down at the elk with her ears drooping down, and the feeling of sorrow was subtly apparent in her eyes. Growing concerned for her, Kovu asked,

"Kiara, you look terrible. I-is something wrong?"

Kiara glanced up at him. "Nothing", she started. "It's just… I had that dream again last night, Kovu. The one where my father dies."

Kovu frowned. "You've been having that dream a lot, haven't you?"

Kiara sighed. "Yeah. It's just… I've been having the dream for days now. I'm really beginning to worry what the whole thing could mean."

Kifo, who seemed intrigued by this, asked her, "Well tell me… what exactly happens in your dream, Kiara?"

Kiara turned to him. She thought for a moment, and then replied "Well… we're still with the fellowship. I see my father struggling over the edge of what I think is a cliff… and he gets pulled over the edge. That's all I ever see before I wake up."

Kifo looked at her with a very concerned face. "And tell me, Kiara, do you ever see _where_ it happens? Are you in a cave, a mine, out in the open, or something along those lines?"

The lioness thought for a moment more. "Well… this is gonna sound crazy but… I always see it happening in a place just like this." She said, looking out to the mountainous landscape, dimly lit by the light of the moon and stars.

"It sounds like it could be a warning for something." Kovu said. "Maybe in the dream, Simba's really supposed to be you. Maybe… it's telling you to be careful around this place."

Kiara gave him a strange look, one of confusion. Kovu said awkwardly, "Okay, so maybe it isn't that. Honestly? I couldn't guess to save my life."

Kiara snickered under her breath. "If I wanted to hear someone tell me to be careful around here, I'd just ask my father." She said humorously. Kovu grinned, and thought to himself, _Ain't that the truth. B_ut Kifo still looked at the lioness with concern.

"It's no use putting unnecessary stress on yourself, Kiara. It is only a dream, and I'm sure it will stay that way." He said. "All we can do is try to find the rest of your family and hope for the best."

Kiara smiled and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Come now" Kifo continued. "Have the rest of the elk. You are going to need it for tomorrow."

With that, the conversation ended and they all finished off the rest of the blood-ridden body. Kifo had dragged the remains outside into the snow and away from their sleeping space. Soon, Kiara and Kovu had decided to rest for the night. They got close to one another as they laid down to fall asleep. Kifo slept away from them on the other end of the cave so they could have their space together. As they got close and laid against the ground together, they looked out to the glowing white moon and the stars surrounding it. Kiara rested her stomach against the ground in front of Kovu, pressing him against the back wall of the cave. Their eyes gazed upon the halcyon stars with awe, deeply admiring how clear they were on this night.

"It's so clear..." Kiara said slowly and softly. Kovu smiled, looked down at her and put his arm around her body warmly as he replied, "Hey you know? If you ignore the snow, it's like we're back at Pride Rock."

Kiara looked back at him and smiled. "When we do get back, we're gonna tell the cubs all about this place..."

She yawned gently and smoothly while she finished. "How they should've seen the skies here."

At that moment, their eyelids began to grow heavy, and it became harder to stay awake now. Soon Kiara's eyes shut entirely. Kovu fell asleep some time after her, with the moon being the last thing he saw. He comfortably tightened his arm around Kiara, and soon they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

_"Simba! Simba, reach for my paw!" Nala said as she tried to reach down for him. But after she did, Simba began to precariously slip further and further downwards against the crumbling rock. He looked up in terror, and gave them a very solemn look. It took them a second, but they figured out that that look was supposed to mean. Nala was the first to react._

_"No... no, Simba don't! Don't you give up on me!"_

_Simba's expression grew in sadness. "Nala... it's too late for me" he said in a low, grim tone. Kiara, Kovu and Nala all gasped in shock and horror when he said this._

_Kovu said to him, "Don't say that, Simba! You can still-!"_

_"You're more important than me, all of you. You have to save yourselves... I can't get out of this." Simba said in an even more grim tone._

_Despite the icy conditions, tears were rolling down Nala's face now. She looked deeply into Simba's eye from far below and returned the look of sadness. She was beginning to accept the inevitable._

_"Nala... I always loved you..." said Simba. At the mention of this, Nala began to sob. "Simba... I... I loved you too." she managed to choke out. Just after that, Simba slipped down further, almost loosing grip of the mountain from the still crumbling rocks._

_"Kiara… you need to do whatever you can to help your brother get to Mordor... for me." Simba said. Like her mother, Kiara was crying like she hadn't in so long. Kovu was also crying as well, and his mate put her head against his mane. It was freezing, but it was still warm compared to everything else._

_"Daddy... I love you." said Kiara. They couldn't see it since he was so far down now, but Simba was beginning to cry as well. Collecting himself, he continued. "When you and Kopa get to Mount Doom... you know what to do. If it's not... for the sake of Middle Earth, do it in my memory..."_

_Kiara replied, "I will, dad. I... I love you."_

_Simba 's grip was weakening with every second that went by, but was able to utter these words to his son. "When you get back... to the Pride Lands... remember me…"_

_He then gave his sad look to them all, and finally said, "I love you all." and in his mind, he thought, "I'm coming home, father."_

_And then his grip on the mountain failed entirely. With a loud ripping of rock sound, Simba slid off and fell through the air, awaiting whatever was at the bottom of the chasm. And the others above just stood there in absolute disbelief and horror at what they'd just witnessed._

_Simba!" Nala screamed. Her cry of terror echoed throughout the landscape, bouncing off of mountainside for miles around. They all gasped and the tears intensified. They all huddled close together one another for comfort. At that moment, none of the could've cared less about warmth. Just then, Kivuli and the others appeared from behind._

_"What's going on?" he asked them._

_"Where's Simba?" said Timon. But Nala, Kiara and Kovu took little notice of them as they stared down into the blurred, blizzard filled canyon. The last glimpse of Simba was gone. And soon, the wave of inevitability came upon not just Kiara and Nala, but to everyone else at that moment._

_Simba was dead. Much like Mufasa before him, he died trying to save his offspring. Like father like son._

_For Kiara, there was only one thing she could've possibly said at that moment._

_"NOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

Kiara's eyes shot open wider and faster than they ever had before. She was still lying down in front of Kovu, who was still asleep. Kiara was panting heavily, trying to catch her breath. However, when she eventually did and calmed down, she looked around her. The lioness realized she hadn't woken up because of the dream. It was because of the sounds that she heard outside. Her head rose as she struggled to hear what was outside. But eventually, Kiara could faintly make out what she was hearing far out in the distance- drum beats. Not like any kind of drum used in songs, but some type of war drum. It could be heard beating in a steady pattern, repeating in an endless loop. The sound echoed across the mountains, and it almost sounded like, with each passing moment, it was getting louder.

The sound struck her as alarming and sudden, and she didn't want to know who or what was making the noise. Kiara turned around and lightly shook Kovu while whispering,

"Kovu… Kovu! Wake up!"

She tugged on his body with her arms for a moment, until eventually Kovu's eyes came open, ending his sleep, and he looked down to his mate. He noticed that she looked worried about something.

"What? What is it?" he asked her, still half asleep. He could hardly keep his eyes open, but he still could hear to what she said next.

"Listen, outside!" she whispered. Kovu rose his head up a little bit and he listened closely. Sure enough, he began to hear the dim sound of the war-like drum beats, continuing their droning pattern repeatedly. His eyes opened up much more when he heard this, and he looked back to Kiara.

"What is that?" he mostly said to himself. Kiara shook her head. "I don't know" she whispered. "Wake Kifo up."

Immediately, Kovu got up on all fours and stretched out a little bit before he walked past Kiara and went over to Kifo, who was still fast asleep. Kiara stood up just then, and even though it was still in the dead of night, she could see the entire cave clearly. On the other end of the cave, Kovu kneeled down closer to his sleeping father and whispered close to his ear,

"Dad!... Dad, wake up!" he said, tapping his shoulder with his paw. Kifo began to stir a little bit before he eventually rolled over and opened his eyes. He was barely able to see his son, since his vision was still blurry from waking up.

"Kovu? What's going on?" he said. Kovu replied, "There's something outside. Listen!"

Kifo's ears both raised up as he looked out of the cave. Soon, he heard the sound of the war-like drum beats- but when he did, he had a very different reaction than Kiara or Kovu did. His eyes shot open, instantly fully awake. He rose up on all fours frantically, as if he were about to be attacked.

"Dad?" Kovu tried to ask. But Kifo cut him off. "Kovu... I don't think we'll be seeing this cave again." he said softly.

"What?"

Kifo didn't wait for anything to be said before he sprang fourth to the entrance, going into the deep, freezing snow once more. He turned back to the two of them.

"Come on! We may be in very great danger!" He called back. Kovu gave Kiara a look of concern before the two of them went off to join Kifo. Once they were outside again, Kifo whispered to them,

"Follow me."

And with that, he went on to his left, where Kiara ad Kovu promptly followed. Kifo traversed down a natural, unstable rocky pathway through the snow, making an effort to stay low and not make a sound. As they went on, the sound of the ominous drum beats grew louder and louder with each step they took. Having been woken up so abruptly, Kiara and Kovu were both still collecting their strength as they went on. Soon, a low wall of jagged stone began to appear on their right, blocking out the view beyond it. It was just high enough to cover them entirely from view, something they were dearly going to need very soon.

Eventually, Kifo stopped. The lion and the lioness behind him did the same as he slowly peered over the edge of the natural, uneven stone wall He looked over with caution as not to be seen by anything, and soon he could be faintly heard growling under his breath.

It wasn't until here that Kiara and Kovu noticed that the drum beats had gotten far louder than they had before, almost as if they were right next to them. With their curiosities peaked, the both of them crawled over to where Kifo was looking and silently peered over on either side of him. And what they beheld when they looked over was nearly too much to bear.

On the snowy ground straight ahead of them, stood a division of the Uruk Hai army of Isengard. It consisted entirely of orcs, who they noticed had pointed ears like elves. Most of them had little to no hair, and they all wore riddled and poorly tended battle armor. Many of them carried sharp spears and held them straight up in the air, almost seeming to pierce the very stars themselves. Some of them held bows with arrows on their backs, and still others carried iron swords. And the barbaric orcs were some of the ugliest creatures any of them had ever seen. They almost looked human, but their skins were mostly an ugly shade of green, and it was nearly carcass-like, dried up and overall very non-human. And the sounds they made were in their own language and dialect, but it was possible for them to speak English at times.

Kiara and Kovu's mouths hung open in horror at the sight of these nasty creatures, but Kifo hardly looked surprised. Eventually, Kovu mustered the strength to say to his father,

"Dad... what are they?"

Kifo whispered to him, "It is the Uruk Hai army, Kovu. Bred by the white wizard Saruman of Isengard."

When Kifo mentioned Isengard, Kovu felt his blood turn to ice. He didn;t know why, but the mere mention of that place was enough to unsettle him greatly.

"W-what're they doing here?" Kiara asked Kifo. Whispering softly again, Kifo replied to her, "Looking for something, no doubt, but for what I cannot say."

Kiara whispered back to him, "Rafiki warned us about these orcs after we started... I didn't think they'd look _anything_ like this!"

"It doesn't matter now", Kifo went on. "We just have to avoid being seen, and maybe we can get out of this alive."

"Well what'll we do? Where should we go?" Kovu asked him. To this Kifo said, "Away from here, that's for sure. We just need to wait them out at this point."

They said nothing more as they watched the many barbaric orcs march onwards past them. They made horrendous noises as they walked, shouted in their language, and walked on in their heavy, rusty armor. The sound of it all was nearly too much for any of their ears to bear.

"Kifo... how do you know about them?" Kovu asked, finally turning to his father. The old lion replied, "They've been here before. Every time they appear, they come closer to finding me. Orcs don't look upon dwarves or elves fondly, and I doubt the same thing cannot be said for lions."

Soon, Kifo got away from the spot on the low rocky wall. "Come, we cannot linger here any longer." he said to Kiara and Kovu. He started onwards down the natural pathway, lit by the moon which was still clear in the night sky. He crept down slowly, and being mindful not to make a sound. Kovu and Kiara followed in the same manner. They were terrified by the sight of Isengard's army, but their faces didn't show it. Wanting to stay as calm (and therefore quiet) as possible, they all cautiously crept along through the snow, staying low against the wall. However, through the heavy, deafening, clanking sounds of the Uruk Hai just barely ten feet away, they almost didn't hear it. They could hear the sound of an arrow whistling through the air, shooting past them and striking the side of the mountain. Shocked by what had just happened, they all looked back quickly and saw it.

A lone orc carrying a bow and arrow was behind them on the pathway, standing in the dead center of it. All of their eyes widened as they caught sight of the orc. Without waiting for another move to be made, the orc screamed at the top of his lungs towards his comrades, prompting them to abruptly and noisily stop in the snow. The demented, deformed scream echoed through the mountains, attracting the attention of all who heard it. And within seconds, all of the orcs in the group began to leap and climb over the jagged stone wallside, catching sight of the three beings in front of them. They all shouted cries of what almost sounded like relief mixed with anger.

And while this was going on, Kifo, Kiara and Kovu wasted not a second of their time.

"Run!" Kifo screamed, sprinting forward with all his might. Kiara and Kovu both followed him close behind as they ran for their lives from the Uruk Hai. But the orcs behind them were swift just as they were, and soon the entire group was chasing them down the pathway. Many of them pulled back their arrows and fired at them. More often than not, it would result in an extremely close call, just missing them by no more than an inch or so.

The chase seemed to go on for hours. The three lions ran forth with al their strength, with the orce catching up fast. They screamed, shouted and swung their swords through the air trying to catch them. The arrows continued to sail past them while the natural stone wall to their right came to an end. Both Kiara and Kovu screamed in terror as the orcs slowly got closer and closer to them. Kifo looked back and shouted, "Come on you two! I know where to go from here!"

The action echoed through the mountainsides, as the chase went on further still. Kifo eventually led Kiara and Kovu to a cracked opening in between two separate mountains. The entire mountain looked as if it had been split in two, resulting in a rock, narrow canyon down the middle of it. The three of them took a sharp turn to their left and went into the canyon that lay in front of them. Here, no moonlight shone through anymore, and the dim starlight took over. Despite the sudden change in direction, the Uruk Hai easily followed behind. The arrows and screaming war calls continued to come from them, with each arrow shot coming closer than the last.

The three of then sprinted onwards, focusing only on what lay ahead. The ground in front of them was uneven and rough, which raised the risk of tripping over something. Soon, Kiara and Kovu began to run out of breath, panting heavily as they ran. Kifo took notice of this and called back to them, "Come on! Run faster! _Faster_!"

The orcs were steadily gaining on them through the narrow, cracked canyon. But before anything else could happen, the three lions turned another corner to the right and found what was perhaps the worst possible thing to show up at that moment.

A dead end.

The end of the canyon-like pathway took an abrupt end ahead of them. Where the path should have continued, a steeply inclining wall of rock and ice took form. It didn't go up straight, for the dead end inclined steeply. When they saw it, they all gasped and screamed in horror. The three of them had little other choice but to stop and look at the dead end. With the orcs coming in fast, Kifo quickly said to them, "Climb it! It doesn't go straight up!"

They wasted no time. They all sprinted forth, and using their now unsheathed claws, gripped on to the side of it. The dead end wall was riddled with ice, which made it particularly difficult to grip anything. But once they started to struggle and climb, they didn't get three feet up before the Uruk Hai army arrived. The clanking of their armor and swords came to an abrupt end as the ones with bow and arrows relentlessly shot at them all. The orcs with swords simply stood and watched as the scene before them unfolded.

Kifo, Kiara and Kovu climbed up the slope of the dead end as best as they could, hoping to God that none of the arrows would strike them. They all stayed close together as they climbed, and occasionally lost their grip from the ice. But unfortunately, hope was hardly on their side at the moment. For one of the orcs' arrows had been aimed well enough so that it struck Kifo directly in the back, making him howl with pain.

"Dad" Kovu shouted. But before he could do anything to help his father, an arrow struck him on his shoulder, going deep into his skin. He roared out with pain, furiously trying to hold on to the slope as the blood trickled down from his new wound. Kiara was horrified to see this happen, and as fate would have it, she was struck too. One of the arrows shot entirely through her left arm, which was the one most furiously gripping onto the slope. She screamed and roared with absolute pain as the arrow went in one side of her arm and actually came out the other. Blood was subtly beginning to spray out of her from the wound, and before she could do anything else, she lost her grip and slid down the sloped dead end, striking many hard and protruding rocks as she fell. To Kovu's horror, he lost his grip from his wound as well, and he slid down the ice and stony slope. Like his mate, he hit many rough rocks on his way back down to the gravel filled ground.

Kifo was the last one to fall. He furiously gripped the side of the rocky slope, even harder than Mufasa had just before his death so long ago. But eventually, the old lion's strength left him, and he lost his hold on the slope.

When they had all fallen to the ground, the orcs all surrounded them. Many pulled back their arrows in case any movements could be seen. Kiara landed close enough to Kovu so that he could say something to her.

"Kiara... don't move." he said weakly. But Kiara could hardly hear him since she was dealing with the piercing pain of the arrow through her arm. The blood was still flowing down from all of them, and their strength was greatly diminishing. They never knew whether it was because of their wounds, the time of night or both, but soon they could all feel their consciousness fading. Their sight was fading to black as they passed out. The last thing that they saw before their capture was the sight of the orcs surrounding them with their weapons against the stars of the utter clearness of the night sky.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please review this chapter, hope you enjoyed it! And let me know about any spelling/grammar errors so I can fix them.**


	5. The Dead Marshes

**Chapter V: The Dead Marshes**

The mountains were getting smaller and scarcer with each passing day as Gollum led Kopa and Vitani to their final destination. They went from soaring peaks to nearly level hillsides that needed little effort to scale. At the moment, the clouds were clearing away, revealing more of the blue skies that spread out in all directions. But that didn't matter so much as the area they were walking through was filled with thickening mist, and it was hard to see anything ahead, save for the small glow of Mount Doom. There was a soft, constant breeze that went through the landscape that felt cool on the lions' fur. The ominous red glow of Mount Doom off in the distance, for the first time since they spotted it, was getting closer. The black mountains that surrounded Mordor were becoming just a little it clearer each day, and the journey's end was no longer so far fetched.

"See, see, we have led you out! Hurry lionses, hurry! Very lucky we find you." Said Gollum as he crawled on the ground, leading the way. Gollum climbed up on a rock sticking out of the ground and let the two of them walk past. Kopa took little notice of it, but Vitani gave Gollum a suspicious and nasty look as she walked by him on the rock. Softly, she growled at him.

Gollum said cautiously, "Nice lion... nice lion."

The lioness said nothing. She gave him the suspicious look before eventually turning her attention to the landscape in front of them. She and Kopa walked side by side as Gollum went straight ahead of them again. The rocky plains ahead of them were getting easier and easier to tread, and they both looked out ahead of them to the mountain of fire. Kopa turned to his mate.

"He's gotten us out of the mountains, Vitani. There's gotta be something to him." He said. Vitani took a deep breath, mostly out of relief. Kopa then continued, "You know we've got Gollum to thank for getting us this close."

"Yeah, well I still don't trust him." She replied. "Even if he does lead us there, what then? He's gonna want to know why we're going to the Black Gate."

Kopa looked ahead to Gollum, who was still crawling on the ground slyly. The lion smirked.

"We'll tell him it's for the good of his precious."

As the two of them were talking, they had both failed to notice that the air around them had become even more thick with mist as they went further on. The mist was taking on a strange, dark yellowish color. It didn't take long for them to take notice, but just as the two of them did, Vitani's front left foot abruptly sunk into the muddy ground, startling her and Kopa. It felt like water, but it was thicker than any kind of water she'd ever felt before. She pulled her paw out of the clear murky substance, and then took another good look around.

"It's a swamp... he led us into a swamp! I knew he was up to something!" she said sternly, facing Gollum. By now, Kopa was observing this place as well. The mist was a dull shade of yellowish grey, and it almost seemed to glow , giving the place an unsettling ghostly atmosphere. The ground, or at least what he could see of it, was murky and unstable on either side of a dry pathway that seemed to go through. It became difficult to see very far now, but it wasn't hard to see that they needed to stay on the pathway ahead of them. Gollum looked back at Vitani.

"A swamp, yes, yes!" he said, "Come master. We will take you on safe paths through the mist. Come lionses, come. We go quickly."

Very reluctantly and slowly, Kopa took a few steps forward into the mist before Vitani began to follow. Vitani gave her mate a glance before Kopa spoke to Gollum.

"Uh, Gollum? Are you sure there isn't another way? This place looks dangerous."

Just as he said that, one of his paws slipped across the thick mud that lay at either side of the dirt pathway. Overcoming the brief shock, he took a few steps to his right, closer to the center of the pathway. He and Vitani now walked single file along the narrow dirt.

"I found it, I did" Gollum said. "The way through the marshes. Orcs don't use itâ€¦ orcs don't know it. They go round for miles and miles. Come quickly! Swift and quick as shadows we must be!"

"I don't know", said Vitani. "It'll take longer to get to the Black Gates if we go this way."

Kopa looked back at her. "If it'll keep the orcs away..." he said, trailing off, realizing how pointless it was to finish that. The marshlands seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, as far as they eye could see. From a birds eye view, the three of them would've been only specks against the dark yellow mist. Low lying grasses and wet vines would show up on the ground every now and then, but for the most part it was desolate. Algae teamed in the slimy waters on either side of them, and the mist seemed to only be getting thicker as they went along. The orange glow of Mount Doom was no longer visible in the thick of it, and the sheer silence of the place was deathly. No splashes of fish were heard, no marsh creatures could be seen, and aside from the constant breeze in the place, it was silent.

They seemed to walk on for hours. The pathway twisted and turned rather often, which made it difficult for Kopa and Vitani not to slip on the mud or accidentally dip their paws in deep puddles of murky, algae ridden water that they couldn't see up until then.

They walked a long while more. While Gollum was still able to move for quite some time, Kopa and Vitani were beginning to lag behind him. Their paws were soar and weary, but in a place like that, there was no place to comfortably stop and rest.

But about halfway through the desolate, moist swamplands, they began to see things in the water. The first time the lions saw them, their blood turned to ice. In the murky waters on either side, they began to see pale dead bodies laying, floating just beneath the surface. Human faces, with their eyes closed. Some of the bodies were clutching rusty or broken swords, while others were frozen in terrified positions, as if the very moment that the life left their bodies was frozen for all eternity. And all around some of the dead bodies that lay in the waters were small flames that stood on the water's very surface. The sight of this meant virtually nothing to Gollum, but to Kopa and Vitani, they were horrified.

"There's dead things", Vitani called to Gollum, trembling fear clearly apparent in her voice. "D-dead faces in the water!"

"All dead." Gollum replied grimly. "All rotten. Elves and men and orcses. A great battle long ago."

He stopped in his tracks, where the lions followed. Gollum looked back to them.

"The Dead Marshes. Yes, yes that is their name. This way... and don't follow the lights."

"I swear to God, if we get out of this place..." Vitani mumbled to herself. She stayed as close to Kopa as she could. The eerie silence and misty atmosphere of the place was growing weary on her rather fast.

"Well how much farther is it? This place is creeping me out." she said. But just as she did, one of her back legs slipped off the side of the path again and struck the surface of the water. It startled her once more, but she got it out with ease.

"Careful now", said Gollum. "Or lionses go down to join the dead ones, and light little candles of their own."

Vitani swore under her breath, but neither Gollum nor Kopa could pick up what she said. The two lions stuck by one another as they went on across the dry as bone pathway. The dry grasses on the dirt began to thicken, covering just about the entire pathway from there on out. Every once in a while, Kopa would peer down into the murky waters and catch a glimpse of the pale dead bodies just below the surface. Perhaps what unsettled him the most is that the bodies of the dead were still well intact. No bones, no blood- it looked as if they had just died freshly on the spot, really. The lion walked on while he looked down into the water, and often observed the small flames surrounding the bodies.

Unexpectedly, Kopa stopped dead in his tracks. Vitani and Gollum noticed, but the lion took little notice of them. Kopa was staring down at one of the bodies, one who's skin was more pale looking than the rest. He squinted at it, and saw that it was what was left of a woman clasp in ancient elven armor, clutching a bent, rusty sword. He leaned in closer, mezmorized by its appearance. He didn't know why, but something was drawing him to it. It wasn't anything related to the ring, this was another dark force Rafiki had once warned him about.

"Kopa? Kopa come on... we've gotta keep moving." said Vitani. Briefly, she looked down to where Kopa was staring. And for a brief moment in time, she coudl feel some kind of force being acted upon her... a dark force that was just begging for her to look closer. But she resisted the urge to look closer, and looked ahead to Gollum. To her surprise, the little creature's eyes widened when he saw Kopa's condition. And not a second too soon.

"What're you-?"

The pale face's eyes burst open in an instant. The white, completely featureless eyes stared intently back at Kopa, and the lion screamed in terror as they did. The sudden event made Vitani jump, and Gollum looked fairly startles as well. But whether he was really afraid for Kopa or the ring was something they wouldn't know until much, much later.

Vitani called his name as she tugged back at him by the shoulders. But this did little as Kopa seemed o be hypnotized by the sight of the soulless eyes. And then when Vitani looked at his face again, she was horrified. A single drop of blood was streaming down from his right eye, and she screamed. She pulled him back even harder now, but she was of no help. Her grip on him slipped, and she fell on her back against the pathway. And while she got up, Kopa's motionless form collapsed into the deep waters. He fell in head first.

"Kopa! No!" she screamed. Kopa's body was halfway underwater now, and when he felt it, his eyes returned to normal. But once he opened them, he wished that were not so. Benieth the surface, he was horrified. He could see the many faces of the dead, no longer still but demonically screaming and grasping all around him. Their rotten robes and hair flew all around him, screeching terrifying shrieks of agony and death that echoed all around. Their hands reached all around for Kopa, trying to bring him down with them for all eternity. Kopa resisted and attempted to pull himself back out of the water, but it did little. The shrieking and moaning of the tortured souls was enough to make the lion's ears ring loudly. As hard as he tried to fight it, he was continuously being sucked down into the abyss, struggling furiously to get back above. He could feel the air in his lungs deteriorate, and he couldn't hold his breath for much longer. The echos of the ghostly moaning spread everywhere around him, and all the struggling in the world couldn't make a difference.

He was being dragged through the blackness of the waters, when suddenly he could feel something violently pulling on his tail, the last part of him still above the water. It tugged on it furiously, until little by little, he could feel his body touch the air once more. He tried to help this by pushing himself out against the murky mud, but it helped very little. Soon, he could feel something else grab hold of his back legs, and with a single burst of energy, he was thrust upwards above the surface and landed on his back on the ground. He choked and couhed violently for air, finally getting himself up on his feet again. He was dripping wet now, and he was gasping for air like he'd never gasped before. Then he looked around him.

"Oh God, Kopa!" Vitani said as she threw herself against his chest. Kopa looked over at Gollum, who was the one who grabbed his tail. He saw him with a type of perplexed gratitude and disbelief.

"Gollum?"

"Don't follow the lights!" he hissed. Kopa ignored him as Vitani laid on top of him, their chests pressing tightly against one another. By now, both of them were gasping for air in shock.

"Are you alright? What happened there?" she said. Kopa hesitated before he replied, "...Something drew me too it, Vitani. It wasn't the ring, it was... something else."

They took a few moments to rest and collect themselves. When they could finally breathe normally, Kopa said,

"We've gotta get out of here. How much further, Gollum?"

The creature crawled closer to him as he said, "Not far! Not far! Come, this way!"

And Gollum went on. Taking one last deep breath, Kopa and Vitani went onwards, following the creature once more. It certainly did appear that they were nearing the edge of the marshlands. The glow of Mount Doom was once again visible miles up ahead, only this time it was slightly closer. After what'd just happened, they were relieved to know they were getting closer to their final destination. Soon, after about an hour or so the mist cleared away all together, revealing the smooth, dry grasslands that separated them from the black borders of Mordor.

"Looks like we finally got out of the mountains." Vitani remarked. Kopa looked behind him and gave the landscape a sad look. The mountains themselves were far out of view now, but he whispered to himself,

"For you, dad... for you."

* * *

Night fell upon the place now. The silence of the landscape had gone from eerily quiet to peacefully quiet. The sounds of insects and grasshoppers could be heard in the bushes around them. Kopa and Vitani were resting by the side of a thick tree at the beginning of a small forest. No leaves grew on any of the trees, and the wind blew through them silently. Vitani was fast asleep, but Kopa was still far from it. While he lay beside Vitani, he held the ring in the palm of his paw, mesmerized by its appearance. He was thinking deeply about everything that this ring had caused up until then, that day included- the deaths of thousands of men and elves, the death of his father, and had nearly gotten himself killed _at least_ three times now. He stroked the ring with his claws. Even though he only saw it briefly what seemed like ages ago, he could still imagine the inscription clear as day on it. He had memorized every line of it in the black speech of Mordor, finer than the finest pen strokes. He repeated the inscription in his head:

___One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,  
One Ring to bring them all, And in the darkness bind them._

It echoed in his mind. It was a cruel fate that something so small could put him, his mate, and his entire family through so much grief, pain and suffering. If he ever got to Mount Doom, he knew exactly what he would say before dropping it into the fiery heart of its birthplace:

_All that is gold does not glitter, __Not all those who wander are lost; __The old that is strong does not wither, __Deep roots are not reached by the frost._

Kivuli's words. Such strong and wise words of wisdom, it was hard to believe that he ever learned it from a hobbit. While he clutched the ring in his grasp, he thought of his encounter with Bilbo Baggins when he was just a cub. He seemed so cheerful, but he remembered that he looked almost reluctant to be on the journey he was. Kopa hoped that the cubs were still safe in the Shire.

But his thoughts were interrupted. A bit of a distance from him, he heard Gollum. The lion looked ahead of him and saw the slimy creature was perched beside a small, clear lake, looking down into it. And from what he could hear, he was talking to himself, even.

"Sooo bright... sooo beautiful", he said, sounding as if he had just gone completely mad. "Our precious..."

Kopa let go of the ring and let it hang from the chain once more. He decided to quietly get up and see what Gollum was up to. He got up all fours carefully as not to disturb his mate. He quietly approached Gollum from behind, where he could hear the creature mumbling to himself quietly.

"What did you say?" Kopa asked. Gollum looked back at him. "Master should be resting" he said. "Master needs to keep up his strength."

Kopa ignored Gollum as he went to his right and sat beside him. Gollum looked sad for some reason, Kopa couldn't tell. Feeling genuinely sorry for the creature, Kopa asked him,

"Gollum... just who are you?"

He replied, "Mustn't ask us. Not its business." And then he did the disturbing choking sound, where he said *gollum*, *gollum*.

Kopa continued softly, "You know... when I was a cub, I once met a hobbit and his friends. One of them was named Gandalf. They didn't stay for long, but... Gandalf told me some things about you."

Gollum looked at the lion curiously, though the unknown sadness was still clear in his eyes.

"Gandalf told me you were one of the River Folk."

Gollum looked down into his reflection while he said to himself, "Cold be heart and hand and bone. Cold be travelers far from home."

Kopa guessed that was some sort of saying from before he got the ring. He continued, "He said your life was a sad story. I think he was telling about you as if you were a bedtime story since I was s young. But now that I see you... I realize he was right."

"They do not see what lies ahead, when sun has failed and moon is dead." Gollum went on to himself. Kopa could tell he was attempting to ignore him, so the next thing he said was what got his attention at last.

"You weren't so different from a hobbit once, were you... Smeagol?"

That final word caught Gollum completely off guard. He looked up and over at Kopa slowly, as if he were just realizing something.

"W-what did you call me?" he asked. Kopa answered, "That was your name once, wasn't it?... a long time ago."

Gollum, after a bit of hesitation, said, "My name... My name... Smeagol..."

Had it not been for what happened next, Gollum's ultimate fate could've been decided right then and there. Shattering the peaceful silence of the woods, the piercing shrieks of the Nazgul echoed against the trees. The sound made Kopa scream, and Vitani woke up anxiously.

"What the-?"

"Black Riders!" Kopa shouted back to her. Just the mere sound of the screeches made their heartbeats increase dramatically.

"Hide! Hide!" said Gollum as he quickly crawled over to one of the bushes. Neither Kopa nor Vitani had to be told to follow him. But as they dove for the bush, Kopa felt something. Images of his wound from Weathertop were flashing back to him, and the black wound on his shoulder started to singe with pain once more. He stumbled to the ground from the sheer pain of the wound all of a sudden, and he clutched the ring against his chest. It felt heavier than it ever did before, and his head struck the dirt hard. Vitani helped him back up.

"Come on, Kopa!" she said with worry. Doing his best to recollect his strength, Kopa went into the bush with Gollum, and Vitani followed. They had not a second to spare when the Riders of Sauron appeared. Their imposing figures against the blackness of night made them worse than ever. The screams of them filled the air, as three of them were now searching the area. Crouching down into the bush, Kopa gripped the wound on his shoulder, holding back the urge to scream in pain with every ounce of strength that he had. Vitani glanced at Gollum, and she whispered as quietly as she could,

"I thought they were dead!"

Gollum replied in an even softer whisper, "Dead? No, you cannot kill them. No."

The high pitched shrieks of the Nazgul filled the forest with terror. It hurt their ears just to have to endure this kind of noise, and it took everything they had not to make a run for it. They watched closely and cautiously as the Nazgul rode on their black, red eyed horses, very clearly aware of the ring's presence. But then, something horrifically unexpected happened. Another piercingly loud Nazgul scream could be heard, but this time it wasn't coming from anywhere around them. It took them a moment to grasp this, but it came from above.

"Wraiths!" Gollum panicked, still keeping to a whisper. "Wraiths on wings! They are calling for it. They are calling for the precious!"

Kopa couldn't believe it. The Nazgul had tamed a kind of beast to act as air travel for them, a horrific winged beast that was very clearly reptilian. They could barely see it when they looked up, but they saw enough of it to get its basic form.

Kopa clutched the ring on the necklace against his chest tightly. He could feel the call of the ring, answering back to the cries of its master. He was terrified, and the piercing pain from his wound could still be felt in the Nazgul's presence. But suddenly, Vitani placed her paw over his. While they silently caught their breath, Kopa looked over to her.

"Kopa... it's gonna be alright... I'm here."

The reptilian beast that bore one of the Nazgul encircled the forest, searching for the ring. Some time passed, and after what felt like an age had passed, the Nazgul finally left and made haste in the direction of Mordor, towards the glow of Mount Doom in the blackness of night. But not wanting to take any chances, the three of them waited in a good five minutes of silence before they decided to get out of the bush. Kopa was the first one to do so, as he stuck his head out and scanned the area. The peaceful silence of the forest had returned, and no more riders were in sight.

"Coast is clear." he said back to them both. Soon, all three of them emerged back out into the air, looking out in the direction of Mordor. The last glimpse of the flying beast was no more.

"I don't think we can stay here." said Kopa.

"Great", said Vitani. "We've still got them to worry about. I can't believe they're still around after Weathertop!"

"You heard what Gollum said", replied Kopa. "They can't be killed. No living man can kill them."

She took a deep breath. Gollum crawled ahead turned back to them. "Come lions. The Black Gate is close!"

"Vitani muttered, "You'd better be right about that."


	6. The Road to Isengard

**Chapter VI: The Road to Isengard**

The very first thing Kiara saw when her eyes opened was the form of the stony ground speeding by in a blur below her. There was still snow apparant on it, but only now it was much thinner and far easier to tread through. But in the instant she caught sight of this, she realized something: She wasn't the one who was running on or across it.

As she regained consciousness once more, she saw herself in perhaps the worst situation she could've been at that moment: clutching onto the back of a orc, with a heavy, rusty chain locked to her back left leg. As she gasped in horror, she got a better look at her surroundings. They were surrounded by at least two dozen other orcs, a blend of Mordor and Isengard types. It was early in the morning, and just to the right of the head of the orc she was chained to, she could see the sun rising in the east beyond a hill-sided terrain. She could tell that they were still in the Misty Mountains, but the peaks around them were far smaller and more manageable than before. She could feel that the air was warmer, too.

The Uruk Hai around her were far from idle, moving along hastily and making her shake all around against the orc's back. They seemed to be moving to the south, but to exactly where, she couldn't tell.

She looked around some more. Amongst the horrifying and disgusting faces and forms of the orcs, she saw exactly what she needed there- Kovu, chained to another orc just alongside her. She sighed with some relief, now completely awake. But she also saw that he was still unconscious, and he had a nasty black gash on his arm. When she tried to say something, she felt a surge of pain shoot throughout her body, coming from her arm. And then she remembered the attack at the Misty Mountains. They had been wounded by the arrows and captured by the Uruk Hai. Her wound had gone straight through her arm. She couldn't look down to see it, but at the same time she didn't want to.

Seeing Kovu unconscious and having her dragged along with the Uruk Hai, miles away from anyone she knew, she felt helpless to say the least. She was unquestionably scared, and was just praying that she could get a chance to escape at any point. But even if she could've, she would never willingly do it without Kovu alongside her.

She turned to him. "Kovu... Kovu!" she whispered. She received no reply. She was even more terrified now, but she could hardly think with the sound of the clanking battle armor, orc speech going on, among other noises around her. But from what little she could think, she remembered the rest of the fellowship. She'd lost count of how many days it'd been since the ring nearly took over Kovu, but she assumed that they thought she must be dead by now. Tensing up against the orc's back, she had to stay strong through this. Had it not been for the Uruk Hai's weaponry and the chain latched to her leg, she probably would've tried to escape somehow. But she ruled that idea out quickly. Even if either her or Kovu coul escape, the orcs would kill them with their spears in seconds.

When she looked around again, she realized something- where was Kifo? She hadn't seen him since the attack, and she could neither see nor hear the old lion anywhere within them all. She hoped Kifo had made it out alright.

She stared up to the light blue morning sky. Through all the painful sounds and emotions going on right then, she could only make one single thought at the time:

_"Mufasa... if you're there... save us."_

* * *

That morning, Kiara was not the only one looking up to the sky for some shred of hope. As she was the first of the group to wake up, Nala stared up to the clear skies with a sad, yet hopeful expression on her face.

Since the departure of Kopa and Vitani, the remnants of the fellowship had done little better than them. Granted most of them were very much used to the frigid climate of the place, all of them, even Kivuli had lost count of the days since they began the search. With every sunset, hope of finding either Kiara or Kovu alive deteriorated just a little more. Even Nala, who had the most positive outlook at the start, was beginning to lose hope. But as she looked up to the sky, she shook the thought away. Who was she as a mother to give up on her own daughter and son-in-law like that? She knew Simba would've pressed on through this, so there was no reason to think any differently than he would.

Behind her, she could hear the rest of the fellowship waking up at sunrise. They had all slept in a clearing in the snow Kivuli had managed to make the previous night, exposing the rocky surface deep below. It was still as freezing as the surrounding ice, but that was to be expected. Kivuli was the first one up. He stretched himself for a moment before getting up on all fours. He noticed that he's left his hood down overnight, exposing his jet black mane. He didnt' bother putting it back up while he walked over to Nala. They now stood side by side. Nala took little notice of him.

"I know what you're thinking, Nala", he said. "And I think the same. Every night has been a night as long as years... but Simba would want you to go on, Nala... he would go on."

"I know", replied Nala, finally looking over to him. "But... I've just got this feeling."

"Of what sort?" Kivuli asked curiously. Nala said,

"I feel like... they're in danger. Not just from the cold but from... something else. I can't really explain it."

Kivuli took a deep breath, and sat down in the snow. Nala did the same slowly. "You know, Nala... I once shared the same feeling that you do now." Kivuli said. "It was years ago, back when I had yet to memorize any part of this world beyond Pride Rock. In fact... it was the final day before Scar spilled my parents' blood across the desolated wasteland that it was. That night, I could not sleep or find comfort no matter what I did. I felt that... something was going to happen."

Nala looked over at him for a moment before he continued. "My mother said it was only a bad dream... but I had no dreams that night."

The soft, gentle breeze picked up once more, ruffling his fur around, which almost seemed to gleam gold against the sunrise. "I knew there was going to be some sort of danger. And by the time the sun had set the next day..."

He stopped right there. His head sank down in sadness as he looked to the landscape around him. "So just know that you are not alone in your fears, Nala."

Suddenly, he looked back up to her. "Is finding Kiara and Kovu your dream?"

Nala gave him a confused look. "Well, yes I suppose. I... didn't think you would put it quite like that."

"My father once said", Kivuli went on, "That a single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities."

The lioness smiled at him.

"We will find them alive. I cannot promise, but as long as hope remains, the reason for fighting for them remains."

The two of them ended the conversation there. Nala walked away, giving him a warm look before doing so. She walked over to the clearing in the snow, and she shook Timon and Pumbaa first.

"Hey... hey, wake up." she whispered. Slowly, Timon was the first to open his eyes. He stretched himself out as he laid beside Zuri upon Pumbaa's stomach, since he was sleeping on his back. However, the meerkat collapsed as soon as he did.

"Come on, guys... wake up!" Nala whispered again. Timon replied in a tired, half asleep voice,

"Aw come on, Ma... just five more minutes."

Nala sighed. As she looked upon Timon sleeping beside his mate, she grew a somewhat devious smile upon her face, thinking of a way to get him up. She leaned in close to Timon and whispered in his ear,

"Timon... Zuri wanted me to tell you that _she's pregnant_."

That did it for him. His eyes shot wide open, and he instantly leaped to his feet, gasping for air.

"What? When? How? I mean, what?!" he shouted, waking up Zuri in the process.

She said "T-Timon? What's going-" but was cut off by the meerkat, who could hardly utter any coherent sentance. "Zuri!" he shouted with fear. "When? How? We didn't... you know... yet!... Did we?"

"Timon, what are you talking about?" She asked, getting up on her feet and facing him. Pumbaa started to regain consciousness by this point. Timon continued, "You didn't tell me you were... _expecting_ yet!"

The female meerkat's eyes widened with surprise. "W-what? You think I'm pregnant? Timon... I'm not expecting just yet." She said. Timon replied, "Well than why did Nala tell me that-"

He stopped right there. A rather nasty look grew on his face as he slowly turned back to Nala, who had a devious, smug smile on hers. Timon, after a moment of realizing the situation, finally said,

"Don't ever do that again! Yeesh, you almost gave me a heart attack ya crazy lion!" he said, finally calming down.

_I should've thought of that one weeks ago_, thought Nala. Timon and Zuri jumped off of Pumbaa's stomach and into the snow while the warthog got up on all fours as well.

"Hey Timon", said Nala. "Nice job not screaming just by looking at me this time." She said humorously. Timon ignored her.

After a while, the rest of the fellowship collected themselves and got up for that day's search. The morning air was a frigid as ever, but most of them had grown accustomed to conditions such as these. However, the day's hunt did not start out at all like most of the previous ones. Before anyone could make a move, Kivuli had called everyone to the circular clearing in the snow where they had slept. Kivuli sat on one end of it, and the others surrounded him. He must've had something important on his mind.

"Alright everyone", he started. "I am aware that the previous days of search have been near fruitless in the search for Kiara and Kovu."

"Yeah, you got that right!", commented Timon. Kivuli ignored him. "Now during the search, I have thought of an idea as to where they could be now."

Everyone's attention peaked at this point, especially Nala's. "Where, Kivuli?" She asked. The lion reached back for his hood, and pulled the rolled map of Middle Earth out of it, where he had been keeping it. He pulled the dull red hood back over his head, covering much of his face around his eyes on shadow.

"I cannot guarantee this is where they are, but if hope is to survive, we must abandon these mountains." He said. The lion laid the parchment map out in front of all of them. Ever since Elrond had given it to him, it had become just somewhat riddled with moisture and a few stains. But it was far from unreadable, especially with someone with sharp senses like him.

He pointed to the long mountain range down the middle, and moved one of his claws downwards on it. "These are the Misty Mountains. This is where Saruman attacked us."

Looking away from the map, he looked up to the others. "If Kiara and Kovu even remotely think anything like us, the odds are high that they went searching for a place away from the cold. Lions like them were never meant to traverse in such cold climates such as these, it's nothing short of a miracle that we've lasted as long as we have."

His claw then moved over to what looked like tiny, yet visible forest on the map, just above another larger one labeled 'Fangorn', and far above the kingdom of Rohan.

"These, my companions... are the woods of Lothlorien. They are a distance from here by all means, far up northeast of where we are. If their instincts took over at any point, the odds are fair that they would've searched for refuge from the mountains. And when they ran away, Lothlorien was the closest wooded area at the time. I believe they have gone there."

The scene remained quiet for a moment as the others took in what Kivuli told them. Nala was the first one to ask something.

"Kivuli, do you know who... or what... lives there?"

The lion replied, "Nala, little is known of the woods of Lothlorien. They say that no man, dwarf or lion has ever had their eyes gaze upon it. But it is said that the woods of Lothloien are inhabited by the elves, much like those that we encountered back in Rivendell."

Pumbaa was surprisingly the next one to ask a question. "Well, who are they loyal to?"

Kivuli answered, "I do not know much, but I do know that they are anything but loyal to Sauron or Saruman. If Kiara and Kovu find their way there, they will be treated with great hospitality from the elves that dwell in those woods."

"They're gonna need it." Commented Timon.

Rafiki spoke next. "We assume much to think dat Kiara and Kovu found dere way into Lothlorien. I doubt dat dey know it even exists." he said. "We cannot journey to de Golden Wood on assumptions or hopes alone."

Kivuli looked at the baboon for a moment. "Alright, so if not Lothlorien, then what do you propose that we do, Rafiki?"

The baboon thought for a moment, and then stood up. "Well first, I believe we should know our own surroundings first before we search for others."

"A wise idea." The lion replied. With that, he turned back to the slope of a mountain behind them all and he looked up it. He ran over to it, and most of the others followed away from the clearing in the snow. It appeared to lead to a high up plateau, a good place to know their surroundings.

"I will go up and see." he said quickly before he leaped up and grabbed hold of the side. With his strength, he slowly made his way up the stony side, slipping only when his paws or claws struck ice. Nala, Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa watched as he scaled his way up the massive slope to get to the plateau. However, Zuri was not with them. She had stayed back at the clearing in the snow, for she was closely looking at Kivuli's map. She seemed highly interested as she scanned the map with her eyes. Her sight landed around many places. She saw The Pride Lands, Rivendell, Fangorn, Gondor... but then her eyes came to rest upon the dark kingdom of Mordor. She squinted closely while looking upon its mountainous borders that stretched around a nearly box shaped area. She looked harder, and saw a feature close to one of the borders labeled "Barad-Dur". She didn;t have any clue in the slightest why, but the name of that sent chills up her spine. Nearby that, she saw another feature within Mordor called "Orodruin". Little did she know, this was Mount Doom.

But just before she heard what she did next, her eyes shifted over to the other side of the Misty Mountains and came to rest upon Isengard, right across from Fangorn. She looked down at it with curiosity. It was amazing how so small a place could cause so much against them on their quest, namely the death of Simba. She quickly memorized Isengard's location, and not a second too soon.

While she was studying the map, Kivuli had reached the plateau atop the steep, stony slope. He pulled himself up to the surface, and stood back up. He looked around, squinting in all directions.

"Kivuli, what do you see up there?" called Nala from below. Kivuli looked around, seeing the enormous mountains, cliffs, and rugged terrain that seemed to stretch out into the eternal horizon. The sun was still just rising, which created a warm, appealing golden glow against the mountains. The snow around him gleamed, and the wind was gentle, yet frigid as always. He stood there for over two minutes, and was just about to head back down when his eyes spotted something upon the horizon. Out to the south, where the snow covering met its end, he could see small figures marching upon one of the smaller parts of the mountains.

"There are soldiers... soldiers with spears and weapons marching southward." He called down. And then, he squinted at them harder than he ever had with anything before in his life. It was painful for him to do, really, but he was used to such pain by now.

"It is not of men, elves or dwarves..."

He gasped loudly, echoing down to the fellowship. The alarm in them raised significantly.

"W-what, what is it?" Nala shouted up, echoing through the lands. Kivuli called down, still looking to the south,

"It is the Uruk Hai army of orcs! And... they appear to have two prisoners with them!"

He shouted out, "They have Kiara and Kovu!

"What?!" They all shouted at the same time. "How could you know that?" Timon shouted up. Kivuli said down to him,

"My sight has been trained to see faint things at faint distances, Timon."

Kivuli looked ahead of him to the south, and realized something. He finished by shouting,

"... They're taking the lions to Isengard!"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this, and please review! Also, before you ask, yes, that last like was a direct reference to the famous "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard" line. I give you full permission to take that line and turn it into an ungodly catchy song...**


	7. Dark Tension

_**Author's Note: **_**Sorry this chapter took so long, things have been getting busy in school lately. Anyway, here it is. **

* * *

**Chapter VII: Dark Tension**

Kivuli was far from idle as he frantically leaped to his right and scurried down the slope from the small plateau, sliding down and just barely maintaining his grip. Small rocks slid down with him, and when he came close to the ground again, he lost his grip entirely. He fell a few feet into the snow and struck the ground below it head first. But frantically, he stood back up and shook the snow off of him. The others were all facing him with anxiety.

"This is the treachery of Saruman!" He said to them, catching his breath just a bit. "Nala, the Uruk Hai has your daughter and your son-in-law held captive. I saw it with the same eyes I see these very mountains with now."

Nala and the others gasped, glancing out in the distance. Faintly now, they could see a tiny speck of blackness amongst the snowdrifts ahead. Nala, upon the sight of this, unsheathed her claws and tensed up significantly.

"Well then what the heck are we waiting for, then?" exclaimed Timon, who was helping Zuri climb up onto Pumbaa's head. He pulled himself up as well and continued. "Let's go after those sons of-"

Before he could say anything else, Kivuli cut him off. "No! It would be too dangerous. Uruk Hai possess weapons and fighting skills that none of us could possibly wield.", he said.

"So then what're we supposed to do then?" asked Nala. Kivuli replied,

"There is hope of saving them yet, but with each moment we linger here, that hope slips from our paws."

He took a few steps in the direction of the Uruk Hai, and looked out to the mountains they were treading.

"A good hunter always keeps a distance from its pray before the kill."

Timon opened his mouth to say something, the hooded lion stopped him before he could. "And Timon, I do not mean hunting Kiara and Kovu, before you ask. I am referring to the orcs that have them hostage."

Timon stayed quiet after that.

"Well then let's go!" said Nala as she sprinted forth with a determined look on her face. Kivuli took a deep breath before following. Rafiki ran close behind. The last ones to start off were Timon, Pumbaa and Zuri. Timon sighed and mumbled under his breath,

"So much for a life without worry."

And with that, all that remained of the fellowship set off. For that entire day, no hesitation occurred in the slightest. For a change, Nala was leading the group instead of Kivuli, since she was more determined than any to rescue Kiara and Kovu. They ran treacherously through the steep, snow filled slopes of the mountains, often times slipping down them or losing their balance for brief moments. The freezing morning air hit hard against them as they ran forth, with the sunrise to their left. Kivuli warned them to stay a good distance from the Uruk Hai, but it seemed that they never got any closer to them. They ran for what seemed like hours and still they were the same black specks out in the distance. Often times their progress was hindered by protruding natural rock walls out of the ground, hidden, deep pits that were hidden by the snow, and thick patches of ice scattered around the mountainsides that made it extremely difficult to keep their footing.

However, regardless of how the situation was at the time, not a one of them could deny that the view of the Misty Mountains was nothing short of gorgeous. The majestic cliffs were warmly illuminated by the rising sun, casting a deep golden color upon them. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the vast miles of mountains ahead of them were ever so slowly getting smaller as they went on. The slopes of the peaks were declining in height, the hazards of the path were weakening, and the ground was getting easier to trek across. It was well past midday when this happened.

While this went on, Zuri commented to Timon,

"Looks like the pathway's clearing up."

To this, Timon replied under his breath, "Thank God..."

The meerkat looked ahead of them and watched Kivuli run at near top speed across the thinning snow. With Pumbaa also running at near the same speed, it was hard to look ahead steadily. Out of curiosity, he stood up, gaining his balance and asked the lion,

"Hey Kivuli?"

The lion looked back to him.

"I was kind of wondering, uh... what exactly is Isengard like?"

After a moment before looking out ahead of him again, Kivuli replied, "Timon, Isengard was once a lush forest for miles around. The sea of trees completely encircled what is now Orthanc. But then the white wizard Saruman came, and he began work on an army worthy of Mordor. I have seen little of Isengard since the start of the army's conception, but from what I've heard, the place is now desolate of natural life. Trees grow nowhere around a half a mile radius of Orthanc, and the army is being bred there as we speak. Smoke rises from the fires of the army all hours of day and night. To put it in your terms, Timon, the place would be the closest thing in Middle Earth to hell had it not been for Mordor."

Timon gulped loudly in fear, and he sat back down beside his mate. Zuri, noticing Timon's apparent fear over the Uruk Hai (not that she blamed him), asked Kivuli, "Do you know how big the army is? Would we be able to fight it?"

The hooded lion took a deep breath. "Not unless you believe a group of six could defeat an army of ten thousand at least."

Nala perked up when he mentioned this. Still running and looking ahead, she said, "Well then I guess we'll just have to sneak our way into Isengard then."

"Not likely, Nala", Kivuli replied. "If we come within a mile of the place, we will be spotted for sure. If not by Saruman himself, then by the orcs and men that make up his army."

"So then how the heck are we going to save those two, then?" asked Timon, becoming tense from how difficult this was going to be. To this, the lion replied, "Pray, Timon. Pray..."

The meerkat decided to end the conversation after that. He looked up to the sun now high in the sky as Zuri rested her head against his shoulder. The two meerkats grabbed each other's hands and held on tightly for one another, never willing to give up- even if they were only meerkats.

The group ran on majestically through the mountains well into the day. They hardly spoke at all, and as much as they all wanted to, none of them ever suggested stopping for a rest. Not even Timon and Pumbaa.

Dusk fell upon the landscape. As the sun set in the west, the Uruk Hai were swift enough to finally elude Kivuli's sight. But in spite of this, their hopes did not diminish. For Kivuli knew good and well where Isengard was, and as long as that was where they were going, the Uruk Hai in sight were of little priority now. Finally, after an entire day's worth of running, the group stopped to rest at the side of a steep cliffside. The tallest of the mountains were behind them now, and ahead lat little more than steep hills and a few plateaus. The Misty Mountains were nearing an end, but they still had a long way to go before flat land could greet them once more. Most of them stayed close by one another for comfort. Timon, Zuri lay against the cliff beside Pumbaa, looking up to the stars. Nala was beside them too.

"Tomorrow we set out before the sun rises." said Kivuli. to them all. Pumbaa looked up to him and said,

"Don't you think that's a bit early?"

Kivuli sighed. "Pumbaa, we will not linger here any longer than we must. Time is more valuable than the most precious jewels if we are to free your friends from death."

When the lion said that last part, Timon could feel his throat grow heavy and almost numb. He and his mate gazed upon the great kings of the past, with Timon having a very worried and sad expression on his face. Many thoughts ran through his mind. For the longest time, the meerkat was trying to picture what Isengard might look like in his mind. He could imagine the tall, black tower of Orthanc, but beyond that, his mind was blank. He never really thought too deeply of what hell would look like, but he guessed it would be something along the lines of Mordor or Isengard. Because of this, a sudden surge of worry and guilt struck the frightened meerkat all throughout his body. He felt deeply sorry for Kiara and Kovu having to be taken to a place that was so horrible, he couldn't even fully imagine it. Then he thought of his incident at Bree. In hindsight, he thought that everything was his fault still. He had apologized for it some time ago, but he still wasn't satisfied with his actions. If he hadn't gotten drunk, they wouldn't've had to leave Bree, the Nazgul wouldn't've found them, Saruman probably wouldn't've attacked, and so fourth.

These thoughts pained the poor little creature greatly. Zuri didn't see it, but Timon placed his hands over his eyes, wiping away the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. Timon took a moment to collect himself before he turned to Zuri.

"I hope those two make it out okay." he mumbled. Zuri looked up to him, her head resting right next to his against the stone cliff.

"Who do you mean? Kiara and Kovu? Or Kopa and Vitani?"

"All of them." said Timon solemnly. "You heard what Kivuli said. I mean... they're my friends, Zuri. If any of them die..."

He couldn't finish that. He shut his eyes tightly and lowered his head down. He did his best to hold back the tears of fear, but he failed at this. The poor meerkat began to sob at the thought of losing his closest friends. Zuri craled over closer to him, and she wrapped her arms around him, nearly sharing the same look Timon had.

"I... I remember the day Kiara was born." he said in between sobs. "She was... such a beautiful cub, Zuri. I...I just knew we'd be friends for life, even if... even if we'd have problems along the way."

Zuri was nearing tears now, hearing her mate like this. And his words did not go unheard by the others, either. Nala was listening, Kivuli was listening, Rafiki was listening, and Pumbaa was near tears at the moment too.

"I just cant let someone like her die... in such a horrible way. I mean, Saruman? No... no one should have to die like that."

Beginning to collect himself, his head rose again, and he looked up to the faind red glow of the sun against the stars. "And... if we do find them alive... if we all come out of this alive... we're going back to the Pride Lands, Zuri. The whole colony."

He looked down. "You too, buddy." he said to Pumbaa. From his right, Nala looked upon him sadly, but she did not cry. But it also did not at all disguise her emotions evident within her voice.

"Timon... I've never heard you like this before... where did-?"

The meerkat cut him off. "I'm... I've just thinking about Simba lately, Nala."

He paused to take a deep breath.

You know, I was always so used to living the Hakuna Matata life style. But when Simba... I've just never been used to death so up close and from so close of a friend."

His sobbing intensified as Zuri attempted to comfort him. "I've been having nightmares about it almost every night now."

While the meerkat laid beside his mate within the snow, Rafiki decided to come up to him now, clutching his walking stick.

"Ah, Timon", he started. "I once told you dat to find what you are looking for, you must look beyond what you see."

The meerkat looked up to him, which comforted the meerkat greatly. "What are you looking for?" asked Rafiki. Timon slowly replied, "To... to find Kiara and Kovu alive."

"And what do you see of de situation?" Rafiki went on. Timon thought for a moment, ending the stream of tears from his eyes.

"Well... I see them at Isengard... tortured by Saruman."

"Dere is where you must look beyond what you see." Rafiki said. Timon thought harder now. He looked up to the stars once more. The sun had now completely set, and a breeze began to flow through the air now.

"Well... I can see us saving them... they're alive outside the place... And we're with them."

"You have grown to be a wise meerkat, Timon." said the old baboon. "I see dat de Hakuna Matata lifestyle is no longer with you."

Timon replied, "If we can get out of this alive... it'll come back."

That last part he said facing Zuri. Their faces leaned in closer to one another very subtly.

"Timon..." she started. "When we get to the Pride Lands... I want to have a baby. So we can tell them how wise of a father that they have."

Timon blushed and smiled, his mood lightening significantly. "And show them what a beautiful mother they'll have." he whispered. And with that, the two meerkats fell asleep in each others arms, clutching onto one another for warmth. And the others around them were nothing short of speechless. Nala was smiling upon the two meerkats, as was Rafiki and Pumbaa. Kivuli even seemed moved, as he had taken his hood off and, though none of them could see it in the dark, his eyes were slightly bloodshot from the tears that he shed at Timon's words.

"Well... it appears that this journey is changing even your friend Timon." He said. Nala then laid down against the ground next to them. Her tears had shifted from sorrow to that of joy.

"With something like this", nala started. "Even he's realized Hakuna Matata doesn't solve all your problems."

Kivuli then laid down on his stomach against the thin snow. He took a deep breath. "We should reach the gates of Isengard within three days time. Worry not, Nala. Your daughter and your son-in-law will both be safe."

Nala took a deep breath as she rested her head against her arms. The silence of the night was not of an eerie sort, but of a peaceful sort. Every time one spoke, it seemed to echo through the silence of it all.

"Simba would be proud to hear him now." She said softly. "If only you could see this." Nala whispered, looking up to the purple, star filled night sky. This was the last thing she saw before all around her faded to black, as she fell into a deep sleep, knowing that Kiara and Kovu would be safe back with her soon. At least, she hoped so.

* * *

Zira paced around one of the chambers of Saruman in the dark, awaiting orders from the White Wizard. She encircled the stone table that held the Palantir, very clearly having her patience tested. Suddenly, the wooden doors of the chamber flew open, and the white cloaked figure made himself known to her. Zira faced him.

"What is there to hear about the orcs we sent out?" She asked. Saruman, holding his black staff, paced past her and went for another pair of open doors opposite where Zira was. Saruman seemed to be in a hurry for something.

"Saruman!" She called out.

The White Wizard's deep, intimidating voice finally answered. "There has been a change of plans, Zira." he said. As Saruman paced through the dark halls of Orthanc going upwards, Zira followed him.

"In spite of the death and capture, the fellowship of the pride remains intact still." he said. Zira groaned in anger.

"Should've had those orcs kill them off while they were at it." she mumbled. In the dark, her eyes glowed an eerie shade of yellowish green, and could be seen easily by any who would've had the courage to.

"That is why we must accelerate our plans so they do not get any closer to Mordor." He continued. Zira paced behind him as they went through the halls.

"And what might that be, Saruman?" She asked grimly. The wizard turned back to her as he walked on. "The fellowship has a weakness yet- their home lands."

"Are you suggesting that we send the orcs out to destroy the Pride Lands?" said Zira. Saruman nodded. In the darkness, an evil, sly smile grew upon Zira's face. "The ruin of Middle Earth will be spread and become known once the Land of Legend is no more. Pride Rock will fall, and it will symbolize the power that Mordor and Isengard will unleash upon the innocent."

"Exactly what I wanted to hear." she said. "I've been there before, when Scar was still alive. If there is any way I can assist you in this, I won't hold back in spilling as much blood as I need to." She said darkly. "But I know the fighting capabilities that they have, Saruman." She said. "You'll need a great number to send there. Thousands, if you want them to stand a chance."

"Tens of thousands." replied the wizard as he started up a flight of stairs. Zira climbed them behind, where they led to some sort of opening in the tower.

"Tens of thousands?" Zira said puzzled. "My lord, is there such a force?"

Just as the lioness said that, they came upon it. A Balcony that rested high up upon the tower, extending out over the edge. As Zira went upon it, she could see what could only be described as the greatest sight in her life. An army of ten thousand orcs surrounded the tower of Orthanc, all of them cheering battle cries and holding spears up into the air. Most of them bore heavy armor and weapons, and men were mixed within the army as well. The sight was marvelous to her. Saruman, still holding his staff, raised his hand up near his shoulder, which silenced the crowd of orcs and men. He spoke loudly, echoing across the war-torn plains.

"A new power is rising. Victory is at hand!" he said. The army cheered and roared at his words, with spears moving everywhere within them. Suddenly, Zira walked in front of Saruman on the stone balcony and shouted out to the army,

"In seven nights time, the land will be stained with the blood of the Pride Landers! March to Pride Rock, and you will leave none alive! Take no rest, and be hasty to it!" she said. Saruman seemed hardly affected by Zira saying this. In fact, he seemed rather pleased of it. And at last, Saruman shouted as loud as he could to them all,

"To war!"

His voice echoed across the vast Uruk Hai army that seemed to stretch on forever. The spears rose higher into the air, and the cheering of bloodlust ran throughout the forests that surrounded the huge ring that made up Isengard. Zira then sneered to herself,

"There will not be any dawn for those traitors."

And with that, Zira lashed out a mighty roar that spread out for miles. Her roar was evilly ferocious, and could be heard for miles around. For the Uruk Hai, this was their signal. Immediately, the orcs and men of Isengard marched towards the gates, ready to go on to the Pride Lands. The marched on through the dark of night, thousands moving onward. And Zira just stood there on the balcony, smiling in absolute bliss at the sight of this. She laughed to herself.

"This is it, Scar. Soon the ones who betrayed me will be dead... the ones who betrayed _us_."

The lioness looked over past the gates into the distance of the trees that remained in the land. In her sick, dimented mind, she thought,

"_And soon I'll have the precious back in my paws, covered with the sweet stain and smell of blood... Outlander blood."_

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this! Please review, and inform me of any mistakes made here.**


	8. Weakening Courage

**Author's Note: So sorry about the mix up with the last chapter, I accidentally put it up a second time and called it Chapter VIII. I apologize to all my readers who saw that, I uploaded it at 2 in the morning and I was just so drowsy at the time when I had the real Chapter VIII done. Here it is, and sorry again for the confusion!**

* * *

**Chapter VIII: Weakening Courage**

Kopa and Vitani were near hopelessly weak by this point in their journey. Although Gollum was consistently insisting it, they were not close to the Black Gate of Mordor. The Dead Marshes only acted as the exit of the Misty Mountains. They were still many, many miles away from their final destination, much to their dismay. The mountain of fire was still flickering off in the distance, but with each day it had stopped appearing closer. And now, food and water were starting to become serious concerns for the Ring Bearer and his mate. The last thing that they managed to eat was a half rotted dead body of a deer in the dead forest after the marshes. Strength was very slowly, but surely leaving them now. Kopa was especially concerned for his mate. If anything ever happened to her, there was little doubt that he would blame himself for the rest of his life.

Around Rohan, many tall grasses grew on low hillsides, making the land somewhat similar to the Pride Lands, much to the lions' liking. At the moment, Kopa and Vitani were sleeping next to one another within in the kingdom of Rohan, far southeast of the forest of Fangorn. It was the dead of night, and the stars were shining brilliantly against the blackness of the sky. Kopa had his arm wrapped tightly around Vitani's body for warmth and comfort as they slept in the vast fields of grass, and their breathing was steady and calm.

But as for Gollum, he was far from asleep. He was a bit of a distance from the two sleeping lovers, hunched over by the side of an old tree stump, which almost looked like an island in the middle of an endless yellow-green ocean. Gollum stayed low to the ground, and like before, he was talking to himself in his raspy, deformed voice.

"We wants it.. we needs it." he said quietly. "Must have the precioussss. They stole it from us! Sneaky little lionses. Wicked, tricksssy, falssse!"

His voice was getting increasingly loud while he spoke. But then something came over him. For a brief second, he thought about what Kopa said to him about his real name. Yes, it was coming back to him now. Smeagol...

"_No! Not master_!" Smeagol said to Gollum, and the self argument had begun.

"Yes, precious. False. They will cheat you, hurt you, lie."

_"Master's my friend!"_

"You don't have any friends! Nobody likes you!"

Smeagol covered his ears, cowering in hurt at Gollum's words.

_"Not listening... I'm not listening!"_

"You're a liar and a thief!"

Smeagol shook his head, near breaking down in tears from what Gollum was saying.

"Nope..._ Nope!"_

"Murderer...!" Gollum whispered in an especially unsettling tone, upsetting Smeagol even more.

"_Go away"_

"Go away!" Gollum repeated. Smeagol whimpered in a weak voice,

"_I hate you... I hate_ you!"

"Where would you be without me? I saved us. It was me! We survived because of me!" Gollum said fiercely, his tone becoming increasingly menacing.

_"Not anymore."_

Gollum appeared startled now.

"What did you say...?"

_"Master looks after us now. We don't need you."_

"What?"

_"Leave now..."_

"No! No!"

"_Yes!"_ Smeagol said, now beginning to shout, echoing across the grass lands. _"Leave now... and never! Come! Back!"_

Smeagol started to pant loudly, as if horrified by what he'd just said. He continued to Gollum, who was getting increasingly angry,

"We told him to go away! And away he goes, precious...!"

And with that, Smeagol stood up a bit taller, and began to jump around the grass in happiness, laughing in his deformed tone. He echoed across the lands, disregarding any quietness he had within him before. As far as he believed, at least, the Gollum side of him was gone. He was Smeagol now.

"Gone, gone, gone! Smeagol is free!" he exclaimed.

The noise did not go unnoticed. Vitani's eyes opened slowly, and she looked around. Her eyes drifted to her far left, where she spotted Smeagol jumping around in joy. She rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Hey, would you shut up over there?" she shouted to him in an annoyed, somnolent tone. "Some of us need sleep for dangerous places to go, you know!"

With that, Gollum grew quiet again, and sat down beside the tree stump, still feeling as joyous as ever. Vitani rolled her body around, facing Kopa now. The lioness looked back behind her at Smeagol.

"I swear, if we didn't have to follow you..." she mumbled. Vitani calmed down and smiled as she wrapped her arms around Kopa just as he had with her, and the pair grew comfortable once more. Her eyes shut peacefully, and the both of them slept well that night. Smeagol on the other hand, never even came close to that same state throughout the night.

* * *

The next morning, neither the lion nor the lioness awoke peacefully. They heard the sound of Smeagol jumping up all around them, laughing in joy still.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, sleepies! We must go, yes we must go at once!" he exclaimed. Because Kopa and Vitani were so comfortable laying against one another, they were reluctant to get up. But mostly because they couldn't stand Smeagol's laughing and urging to awake, they rose to the ground at last. The two of them stretched their bodies out for a moment, and then they were ready to set off.

"How'd you sleep, Vitani?" Asked Kopa, still in a very tired voice. Vitani, who was slightly more awake than him, replied,

"I've gone and had too much."

They looked up to the dawn sky. They expected to find another beautiful dawn sky like the days in the mountains, but today it was not so. All around them, the sky was becoming a dull shade of grey. Ever since they reached Rohan, every morning had been like this. And it wasn't just the dull skies- everything around them seemed dark and dim, as if the last hour of night had jet to pass. The sun was hidden behind a thick, vast cover of clouds, making the air around them a bit cold. But still, it was rather warm compared to the mountains.

"Come on, must go, no time!" Smeagol said while he ran fourth. Kopa rubbed his eyes out with his paws.

"Boy, what happened to you, Smeagol? You seem pretty happy this morning." he said.

"It's gonna take me a while to get used to calling him that." Vitani commented. Kopa glanced over at her, but then he saw something he hadn't noticed before. All along Vitani's body, her own rib cage was beginning to show from her skin. Her body looked as if it'd belonged to the absolute most food deprived of the Outlanders, unfed, unwatered, and her very bones beginning to show. The sight made him gasp, catching the lioness's attention.

"What? What is it?" She asked. Kopa walked around her twice as he spoke again.

"Vitani, have you seen yourself lately? You're thinner than I've ever seen you!"

"Is... is that a bad thing?" She asked curiously, having no idea where he was going with this. But now, Kopa spoke with concern apparent in his voice.

"Vitani... your bones are starting to show! Look!" he said. Vitani looked behind her and down at her body, and saw the same thing Kopa saw. She gasped briefly. After a moment of silence, she lifted up her right paw, reached behind her and ran it against the side of her. She could feel her own ribs, a terrifying feeling for her indeed. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my God..." She whispered. Still up ahead of them, Smeagol cried out, "Come! Come, we must go!"

Kopa took a few steps closer to Smeagol, and shouted, "Not until Vitani's had something to eat!"

"No time to lose, silly!" Smeagol called. And with that, Smeagol started running ahead, completely disregarding the two of them entirely. Kopa groaned.

"Ignorant bas-" he started to say, but Vitani cut him off.

"Kopa", she started. You don't look so good yourself." she said softly. "Look."

Abruptly, Kopa turned his head to his body, and he saw for himself that his ribs were beginning to show as well. And he also saw that much of his fur was getting dirty now as well. The poor lion hadn't bathed since the day before the entire journey began from Pride Rock. Growing extremely annoyed, he ran up to where Smeagol was through the grass, with Vitani following. The lion caught up with him soon, and he leaned down to talk eye to eye with the poor little creature. He spoke firmly and almost angrily.

"Look Smeagol, if you don't lead us to either food or water in the next ten seconds, I won't stop her from eating _you_ if she has to!"

Completely ignoring the threat, Smeagol groaned in annoyance as he looked out beyond him.

"Fine." he said. "There is a river just near here. Not far, not far! There you can gets your foodses! Animals live there, for years they have. Come!"

Smeagol sprang off again to the east. Vitani caught up with her mate now, trying to catch her breath. Kopa placed his paw on her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked. Vitani said in between breaths, "I'm fine, Kopa... just... a little tired."

"I managed to get through to Smeagol. He says there's a river nearby here. One with animals living around it."

"Did he say what kind of animals?" Vitani asked. Kopa thought for a moment.

"Well, no."

Vitani groaned softly as she started ahead of Kopa. Without any words said, he followed. The two of them stayed close behind Smeagol while they walked across the plains of Rohan. The dark, dim surroundings from the sky stopped them from feeling good about the place, but their feelings towards Rohan were far from negative so far.

"You know... this place isn't so different from the Pride Lands." commented Kopa, treading through the tall grass. Vitani glanced at him.

"Best place I've seen since Rivendell." she replied. "I just wish the place wasn't so dim."

Kopa looked up to the sky. "It's because we're getting close to Mordor."

The two of them then looked past Smeagol and towards the small, flickering glow of Mount Doom on the horizon. The silence of it was eerie, and the soft sound of the warm breeze didn't help it, either. The wind blew against the grass, swaying it in all directions. The blowing sound of it was unsettling, even.

"It's stopped getting closer." Kopa said softly.

* * *

About an hour later, the three of them reached the great river that Smeagol spoke of. The river was called Onodlo, and ran straight through Rohan for many miles. When the two of them saw it over the lip of a particularly steep hill, they both sighed with relief.

"See? See? We finds it! We finds the river!" said Smeagol. He ran to the right and got out of the lions' way. They both smiled as they ran for the riverside. It took them a minute, but eventually they reached the banks of it. The two of them made no hesitation. They both stopped by the edge of the flowing, cool water and they drank from it furiously. The water was cold but fresh, and they took great pleasure as they dipped their heads below the surface.

"Oh my God, I can't remember the last time I had this much water!" Vitani said, still choking down her fresh drink from the river.

"I'd say the Pride Lands." Kopa remarked. Vitani chuckled as she drank from the surface some more, as did Kopa. After a while, they finally had their fill and sat down side by side along the edge of the land. They breathed heavily from drinking so much, but it concerned them none. They then got a chance too look out and see how vast the flowing water really was. It seemed to stretch on and on for infinite miles both ways, and it shone clear and gleaming despite the lack of sunlight.

They sat there peacefully before Smeagol suddenly showed up. They immediately noticed that he was carrying a large, dead fish in the clutches of his rotted teeth. The small creature ran up to them and dropped the fish down in front of them in the grass.

"See? See? We catches little fishys for you! We be nice to master! Master is out friend!" He said. The two of them looked down at the fish, which had just lost its last of its remaining life. Kopa looked down to Smeagol.

"I've gotta admit, Smeagol... for someone like you, it's amazing you found one this huge." He said, admiring the size of the fish. And with that, Kopa and Vitani began to rip the meat off its bones, gnawing on every little bit that they could. Vitani enjoyed it immensely, since it was the first thing she'd eaten in days. She glanced up at Smeagol, who was smiling at them. She scoffed.

"Hope you didn't do anything to this before you gave it to us, cretin." She said. The comment here caught the attention of Kopa, who looked upon her with concern.

"Why do you do that?" he asked. Vitani continued eating the fish, or what was left of it as of that point.

"What?"

"Call him names, run him down all the time. Why do you do it?"

Vitani gulped down a chunk of meat and waited a second before answering. "Because that's what he is, Kopa. There's nothing left in him but lies, I know it. It's the Ring he wants. It's all he cares about."

Slowly, Kopa gave a bit of a nasty glare towards her. "You don't know what it did to him", he started. "What it's still doing to him."

He stood up on all fours and took a few steps away from her, looking out to where Smeagol was, struggling with another fish in the water."

"I... I want to help him, Vitani." He said. The lioness got up on all fours now and went over to Kopa.

"Why?" She asked. Sincerely, Kopa replied, "Because I have to believe he can come back."

Vitani took a deep breath while her mate faced away from her. "You can't save him, Kopa." She said.

Suddenly, in something that she could've never seen coming, Kopa turned back to her, giving her the nasty glare again, but this time his voice was stern and mean towards her.

"What would you know about it? Nothing! All he's done for us is help us, and that's the reward he gets? Give him some respect, it's because of him that we got out of the mountains alive! If it weren't for him we'd probably be caught by orcs or Nazgul by now! And to top it all off, he found food for us when our own ribs were showing, and that's how you repay him?!"

His voice echoed across the lands as his voice got increasingly nasty. Vitani, completely dumbstruck and shocked by his look and tone of voice, began to form tears in her eyes. She took a few steps back from him, and she began to sob, facing away from him now. Kopa upon seeing this, suddenly felt an enormous wave of guilt and self hatred come over him. His expression lightened greatly, and the remorse for his mate was kicking in. He walked over to her and said,

"I'm sorry... I don't know what just happened, that wasn't me."

Vitani looked up to him again, now gaining control over herself. Her sobbing ceased while she spoke. "I do. It's the Ring. You can't take your eye off of it. I've seen you. When we had food, you barely ate. You don't sleep as much as you used to... the Ring's taking hold of you. You have to fight it!"

Suddenly, Kopa's tone turned annoyed again. Not quite as apparant as the last outburst, but he snapped again.

"I know what I have to do, Vitani. the Ring was entrusted to me! It's my task, mine! My own!"

Vitani's eyes widened again in disgust. She watched Kopa walk away again, sitting down in the tall grass once more. She said to him,

"Can't you hear yourself right now? Don't you know who you sound like?"

Kopa ignored her as he looked up to the dim sky, lost within his own thoughts that Vitani could hardly begin to decipher. She looked sadly out to the tiny, flickering glow of Mount Doom. The sadness in her face turned to that of determination, and she wiped the tears away from her face.

"Sauron... _You're_ doing this to my mate.", she whispered angrily, through gritted teeth. "You're doing this to him and you know it! Let him go, or else I'll tear down Barad Dur with my bare claws. Even if it takes me until the Fourth Age, I'll rip apart the dark tower with everything I have."

After a moment, Vitani took a deep breath and tried to relax. She loosened herself up, cleared her mind as best as she could and generally unwinded. She looked back at her mate, and slowly approached him. Before he knew it, she rested her head beneath his chin in comfort, which seemed to release him of his mad expression. He calmed down and took a feep breath just as Vitani had. He looked down to her sadly.

"Vitani..." he started, But the lioness cut him off.

"Don't say anything, Kopa. I know what's happening here. Rafiki warned us that the closer you get to Mordor, the worse the Ring becomes... it's happening."

Kopa gave her a sad look as she stared into his deep, red eyes. This was one of those moments where the lioness looked so deeply into them, she could see the faintest hints of blue within them.

"This is why I came with you, Kopa. You can't do this alone."

The lion sighed. "I know." he said. For a moment, Vitani rested her head against Kopa's soft, brown mane for warmth and comfort. They nuzzled passionately for a brief time. Then the two of them looked out ahead of the river, and the turned to their right where Gollum was running up to them with another fish in his mouth.

"Come on." said Kopa. "We should keep moving."

And after they devoured the next fish that Gollum had caught, the three of them crossed the river and set out across the grasslands of Rohan again. However, the three of them were tragically and painfully unaware of the terrible events about to unfold in both Isengard and the Pride Lands at that same moment in time.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, and please review!**


	9. A Last Alliance, Part I

**Author's Note: I typed this chapter really late at night, so please tell me if there's anything in this chapter I can improve upon. If the wording or dialogue feels to simplistic or rushed, I'll fix it. Please review, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter IX: A Last Alliance, Part I**

Miles beyond the farthest reaches of the Outlands, the desert sand stretched out for nearly a hindred miles in every direction. The unrelenting sun cast its searing heat against the ground, and the very air was nearly unbearably hot. Besides the mountains in the far distance, the desert was featureless. It was a marvel of Middle Earth nature, really- an entirely flat, desolate wasteland in which there was nearly no water for miles, vegetation scarcely grew, and nearly no life could even hope to survive.

Save for one group.

One particular group did manage to survive in these conditions. But they were not here by choice. The hyenas, or everything that was left of their clan, had been chased out here against their will, severely damaging their old way of life in the Elephant Graveyard. They had not been chased here by the Pride Landers; but by the Nazgul, who had been senselessly slaying many of their kind at the will of Sauron himself. While the Elephant Graveyard was certainly no Hakuna Matata, they had managed well enough to live. But after the Nazgul attacked, nothing was the same for them again. Forced to live out in the desert lands, the pack's leader, Nyota, had an especially deep hatred for Sauron and the Nazgul. For both of her parents and her uncle had been killed in cold blood. The thought of their deaths had haunted her since it happened nearly four months before. But little did Nyota know that she was about to get her chance to get the payback she so deeply desired.

* * *

The pack of around 50 or so hyenas were spread out all across the desert as they followed Nyota. Where she was going, she didn't know. The poor hyena looked up to the blazing sun against the blue, cloudless sky, hoping for some sort of sign. A sign hope.

In the bright sun, her physical form was very apparent. Her fur was a bit of a lighter shade of grey than most of the others in the pack, but the spots on her body were darker by contrast. Her form was sleek, thin and agile, more than capable of running at speeds beyond that of an average hyena. And her eyes were a light shade of yellow, with black pupils. She had a small black tuft of fur which hung over her eyes, and the line of thick fur than ran along her back was very poorly groomed. In general she was somewhat un-groomed and unbathed, but she was far from completely dirty just yet. And for a hyena, she was rather beautiful. Her voice was clear and soothing.

Nyota walked along the desert ground, not saying a word while the others followed behind. Despite the large numbers, they were rather quiet when they walked. They did so for what seemed like days until, suddenly, Nyota stopped dead in her tracks. Her head rose up, and she sniffed the air around her. The pack leader looked back to the others.

"What? Whatchya' got, Nyota?" One of the hyenas asked. She took a moment to look around some more until she replied,

"Silaha, get the hunting team together... I smell dinner."

When she spoke, she sounded optimistic, but one could easily tell of some regret and fear in her voice. Behind her, she stood still while a group of seven hyenas ran up around her. Four were male, and three were female.

"What do you smell this time?" a female asked her. Nyota replied quietly,

"I think we've got some vultures on our paws, guys. Up ahead, past that hill."

She pointed with her paw to one of the very few hills of sand that existed in that place. Without saying another word, the seven hyenas walked past her growling, preparing to strike. As they did, one of the hyenas whispered to Nyota,

"Hey Nyota, wanna help us get this one?"

Nyota sighed. "You know how I feel about this sort of thing, Silaha."

Silaha, one of the male hyenas, said nothing more while he caught up with the others. Quietly and stealthily, the hyenas crept against the side of the hill, closely observing the vultures who rested around a dead carcass of some kind. What it once was, none of them could tell. The seven of them watched anxiously while they vultures on the ground swarmed the remains of the small skeleton. Silaha turned to one of the others and whispered.

"Now."

And with that, the seven of them sprang fourth in an instant, barking and clawing as they ran. Their speed was so great, that the vultures hardly had time to react. They hyenas scattered and mercilessly ripped them apart with their teeth, spreading blood across the desert sand. A few vultures attempted to fly off, but they were caught with no problem. The vultures cried out in terror as the life within them was ripped away in an instant by the claws and teeth of them all. Blood flew through the air while the hyenas clutched their bodies in their paws, claiming another day's meal.

Nyota watched this hunt go down from the top of the hill, and had a look of absolute disgust on her face. It wasn't because of the hyenas, but it was because of what was happening to what they were killing. One of the other hyenas from the pack, this one with unusually dark grey fur, walked up next to Nyota. They stood side by side for a moment until the male hyena spoke.

"This isn't gonna be enough to feed everyone." He whispered. Nyota replied,

"I know, Himaya. It's just what we've got right now. I'll find a new place to stay, I promise. If it's not for you guys, it's for my parents."

She took a deep breath.

"They would've wanted me to." She said to herself.

* * *

Later that day, Nyota sat within the group of hyenas who were ripping up the meat of the vultures from the hunt. The vultures that were killed were very large, but they had only managed to catch about six of them, which made it hard to divide them up between any of them. A lot of them dug in greedily into the meat that the bodies had to offer, but Nyota just stood away from them all, looking appalled and disgusted at the scene. She looked upon the dead bodies being picked apart with some sadness forming in her eyes. She nearly gaged when she saw one of their wings ripped clean off in a bloody mess by the jaws of a hyena. Nyota looked away.

While they ate, one of the hyenas who had chosen not to eat noticed Nyota like this, and saw her saddened expression. Slowly, he grew concerned for her, and he walked through the group towards her, moving past the others crowding around the bodies, desperate for even the smallest bites of it. He made his was to Nyota and sat down beside her.

"Nyota... are you okay?" He asked. Nyota only glanced at him for a moment.

"It... it's nothing, Kiburi. I'm fine."

Kiburi, which was they hyena's name, persisted. His voice was calm and very concerned. "No, Nyota. You're always like this. Every time we make a kill, you always look so depressed. Come on, what is it?"

Nyota took a deep breath, and she turned herself around to face him.

"It's just... I don't like to kill, Kiburi. I just always feel so guilty when one of them kills something. It... it isn't right to just take the life of an innocent animal like that."

Kiburi perked up, looking concerned as ever. "But Nyota... you know we do it for our survival. We can't live without meat, you know that."

"I know", she replied, "But I've been thinking... ever since the Nazgul killed my parents, I've just grown to appreciate life more, you know? I mean, the only reason I'm the leader of you all is because they died. And the Nazgul... they're like us in a way."

"What do you mean?" Kiburi asked.

"When we kill our prey, we don't really think about what we really killed; if it ever had a family or had loved ones, or ones they love. That's probably what they were thinking when they killed my parents, Kiburi. We're just animals to them, nothing more. Every time we make a kill, I see myself in it in a way."

There was a moment of silence as they both listened to the sound of the vultures getting ripped apart greedily by the others. Kiburi looked Nyota in the eye and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Nyota..." he started. "I know what happened to your parents is rough. I know, they weren't the only ones. But if they were alive, they wouldn't want you to go starving yourself like this. These animals may be... I mean they're just..."

Kiburi struggled to find the right words for the situation, Nyota looked at him with hope.

"Have... have you ever heard of something called the circle of life, Nyota?"

The female hyena thought for a moment. "Well... I remember that when I was little, my parents told me something about it. They said it involved how life goes on, even if sometimes it has to end for others in order for it to."

"Yeah." said Kiburi. "And those vultures over there probably knew that. They're willing to give up their lives if it means letting us keep ours. It's just how things are."

Nyota thought again for a moment. "And besides", Kiburi went on. "Those guys could use some help with the hunting, especially around here."

Nyota smiled at him warmly. "Thanks, Kiburi." She said sincerely. Kiburi returned the smile. Then one of the hyenas from a distance called over to them.

"Hey Nyota!", he called. "You want the last of this vulture, we saved it if you want it!"

Nyota glanced over to the last of the intact vultures, and looked back at Kiburi. "They wouldn't want me starving myself." She whispered before running over to the space where the meal was. Kiburi decided to follow.

The two of them would have had a great meal had it not been for what happened next. Silaha, the hyena who made the kill, had wandered off into the distance, observing the desert landscape. Silaha didn't know why, but for some reason the sight of the desert always fascinated him greatly. He stood up on the highest point of the hill nearby, and he was gaping at the horizon ahead of him. Suddenly, he called out to the others,

"Uh guys?... You might want to take a look at this!"

His voice echoed throughout the group. Looking up from her meal, Nyota called out, "What? What is it, Silaha?"

Not waiting for an answer, the hyena leader ran through them all, and went up to the top of the hill where Silaha was. She looked out in the distance, and saw the same thing he saw: Terror.

"What the..." She whispered to herself. "Is... is that what I think it is?"

Out of pure curiosity, some of the other hyenas began to look out ahead to what she was seeing, and when they did, they wished they hadn't. Miles away, against the blue sky of the hot desert, they could see the Uruk Hai army marching through the sands with their spears risen high up into the air. Battle cries could just faintly be heard, and it was clear that there were thousands, even at this distance. Everyone gasped at the sight, and for a few, panic even began to arise.

"Where did they come from?" some asked.

"They're coming this way!" Nyota heard one say.

"No, no, it doesn't look like they're coming for us!", Nyota called out. "Everyone just stay calm!" She said. The hyena squinted her eyes tightly at the distant army.

"So where're they headin' then?" one of them asked. After a moment of concerned chatter within the group, Nyota replied,

"It... it looks like they're heading east. Towards... towards the Pride Lands."

When she said that last part, genuine fear rose within her voice. The concern, panic and chatter arose within the group again. Within the group, one of the hyenas was especially scared. He stood next to Kiburi, shaking with panic.

"Oh that's it, I'm not getting anywhere near them!" He screamed, sprinting behind and trying to run away. But Kiburi grabbed his tail, which made him fall to the ground on his stomach. Kiburi looked annoyed at his attitude.

"Don't be such a wuss!" He commented. Nyota, who was still standing atop the hill, looked upon her pack now, looking just as concerned as all of them.

"Yeah, it's the Uruk Hai army of Mordor, possibly Isengard." She said. Fear arose within the group now, and some were cowering low to the ground.

"It looks like... I don't know, but it looks like they're going to attack the Pride Lands." She said. "They're heading in the same direction as that place. They've got plenty of weapons!"

"Yeah, so what?" shouted one of them within the crowd. "What should we do?" Another one called. Nyota cleared her throat.

"The best thing we can do right now is just stay out of their way. If we stay away from them, odds are they'll stay away from us."

Suddenly, Kiburi emerged to the front of the group, looking upwards to where Nyota was. He looked concerned, more so than anyone else.

"Nyota..." he started. "There's something I'd like to say. I... don't know how everyone else is gonna react, but I need to get this off my chest... I think we should go help them... the Pride Landers, I mean."

The others gasped and looked appalled by what Kiburi just said. They called him a few obscene names, and his idea seemed generally hated. But he went on.

"Listen everyone, just listen!" He insisted. "If the Uruk Hai are going to the Pride Lands, no one there is gonna stand a chance! They're going to get slaughtered there!"

"Yeah, that'll just mean more food for us!" Someone called out, followed by a few enthusiastic cheers. Kiburi gave the ones who cheered a dirty look, and looked up to Nyota.

"I don't know, Kiburi." she said. "We don't know for sure that they're going to the Pride Lands, that was just my-"

Kiburi cut her off and took a few steps up to her. "There's nothing else out in that direction, Nyota! We have to go help them! They probably don't even know they're coming!"

"Why the hell do you care?" Someone called out. "They're the ones who kicked us out in the first place!"

"But you guys, don't you see it? If we can at least try to help them, then maybe we can make some kind of agreement with them!"

A few hyenas shouted out obscene words and insults towards him, and he looked up to Nyota. Seeing the hopefulness in his eyes, she thought deeply about this. One one paw, the Uruk Hai had thousands of orcs and men with heavy weapons on their side, and there were only 50 hyenas in her pack. They would stand about as much a chance as the Pride Landers would of surviving. But on the other paw, if they were able to help them out successfully, Kiburi did have a good point: they would be on friendly terms for once. And Nyota personally disliked how they had to be separated from the Pride Landers. After all, she had heard about the 'we are one' saying they had, and she liked it. Well how could they be one if the hyenas were still looked down upon? She thought deeply for a moment more until she figured that if they at least tried, they could change that. And maybe... just maybe restore the honor of her parents' names.

She spoke up. "Listen, everyone!" she said, quieting them all down. "Although it may not look like the best situation... Kiburi's right."

The reactions to her decision were mixed, to put it mildly, but she went on. "Now this is going to be very hard on me, to put my pack in danger like this."

"Your damn right it is!" another hyena interrupted. "What kind of leader would have their whole pack killed just for some Pride Landers who never cared about us to begin with?"

"One who has a soul!" Kiburi called out, which made most of the group fall quiet. Nyota nodded at him, and she continued. "He's right! Even if the Pride Landers were never on good terms with us, who would we be to just leave them to die? And from the forces of Isengard, no less!"

At this point, a few of the hyenas within the clan were seriously considering her words, thinking about how right she was becoming.

"If we just leave them to die without standing a chance, we'd be no better than the Nazgul themselves! Look, if the Uruk Hai over there are going to the Pride Lands, there's going to be a battle, I just know it. If there's any time that they're ever going to need help, it would be then!"

Silence fell upon them all now. In the distance, they could hear the sound of the Uruk Hai marching towards Pride Rock, beating war drums that echoed across the land, and shouting battle cries in their own tongue.

"Before my parents were killed, they told me about how horribly Scar neglected and ignored them even in times of famine. How much better would we be if we left them all to die and did the same thing? Would you really want to be the same as the one who put my parents and so many of yours and others through so much pain? It doesn't matter if they hate us... because they're still living things on this earth, and that's more than what either Scar or Zira ever saw of them!"

"Or us!" added in Kiburi. "They never dave a _damn_ about us! If we know they're in danger and just leave them, we'd be just like him!"

Another moment of silence passed, and Kiburi gave Nyota a warm, friendly smile at her words. Then, one of the other hyenas called out,

"But there's thousands of them! There's only 50 of us, how would we ever stand a chance?"

"I was hoping you would ask that." She replied. "Because despite what it might look like, we're not the only ones who can help win the battle. I know where we can get help."

Some of the others gave her a very puzzled look. "From who? How", many of them asked. Nyota smiled.

"We're gonna have to make an alliance with them. You all probably see them as just prey, but frankly I've always hated our prejudice between them. If there's any time we can truly be one, now's the time."

She looked behind her. Just past where the Uruk Hai were clearly marching, a lonely mountain stood against the blue sky, miles away from where they were.

Nyota then said, "How many of you know about a place that they call... Hakuna Matata?..."


	10. A Last Alliance, Part II

**Chapter X: A Last Alliance, Part II**

Paradise was hardly a description at all for the place known as Hakuna Matata.

It was an enormous, astounding stone mountain that stretched up over a thousand feet high, where the misty clouds could scrape its summit with ease. Surrounding the mountain was partially flat land, but with an vast, majestic and breathtaking valley that had a clear, pure and fresh river flowing through it. On the valley's slopes were countless birch and palm trees in an huge jungle that grew greener than any trees known to anywhere in Middle Earth. Lush, vibrant jungle life dominated the area. Tall trees, low grazing plants, and hanging vines inhabited the place. All of them wet and warmly moist as any jungle would be. The air was also moist, yet extremely refreshing at just the slightest breath within it. It was warm, relaxing, and thick with the sounds of peaceful insects and small mammals that lived there. Thin layers of mist often covered the tops of all the trees, making a beautiful sight whenever night fell. And there were many lakes and ponds dotting the region, filled with some of the freshest water ever known. Save for the Pride Lands, they were the purest waters for miles.

In short, Hakuna Matata had its very namesake for truly good reason: a life without worry.

Plant life was not all that endured throughout the valley, however. For some time now, a vastly populated colony of meerkats resided here, ones who did not take the place for granted in the slightest. This was Timon's colony. Some time before Kopa's birth, Timon and Pumbaa had led the colony to the place in order to give them a better life, away from the barren desertlands they once resided in. And their efforts were not in vein. Since the colony's arrival here, the population had nearly doubled, since meerkats no longer had to die digging tunnels, or give their lives to save others from collapsing ones. Life throughout Hakuna Matata for the meerkats was nothing short of paradise, as Timon once hoped.

However, the colony who lived there was entirely unaware of what bloody, vicious event was going to go down that very day.

* * *

The sun was setting behind the enormous mountain in the middle of the place. Just beyond the edges where the jungle turned to desert, Nyota and her pack were quietly making their way to Hakuna Matata. Kiburi was alongside Nyota, with the rest of them following. Nyota had a bit of a concerned look on her face, not knowing at all if her plan was going to work.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Nyota." Kiburi said quietly. "How do you know they'll do it?"

Noyta hesitated, and the replied, "They have to, Kiburi. They... they just have to."

Slowly, she went ahead of her pack, and looked back to them.

"Don't come any closer until I say so!" she said. "We can't have them scared off right away!"

Most of the other hyenas nodded in response. With that, Nyota went on forward, keeping low to the ground in the grass. She walked softly as not to make a sound crawling through the tall trees of the place. She was within the home of the meerkats now. Taking one last look back at her pack, Nyota stood up fully now, and she picked up speed just a bit. As she went across the moist ground, she admired deeply how beautiful the place was.

Nyota walked for several minutes, never once seeing any sign of meerkat life. She took a deep breath, and laid her body down against an especially large tree. Just getting to this place had made her and her pack incredibly weary an enervated, and she took a deep breath. Nyota rested for a moment with a worried look on her face, while she thought deeply about some things.

Was this idea of an alliance truly going to work? Would the meerkats listen to her, or would they run away in fear? Before her parents were slain, she remembered the stories of how, hundreds of years ago, the hyenas massacred Timon's ancestors entirely unjustly, and how the colony held a deep, passionate grudge towards her pack. Nyota also remembered something her father once said: That the meerkats didn't truly know the second half of the story. He said that at the time, the hyenas of the Pride Lands were enduring a terrible drought, not unlike the one Scar endured during his reign. The hyenas were on the verge of starvation, and had no choice but to either die or feed on the meerkats. And that was the part Timon and his colony never knew- the suffering of her ancestors went through that led them to cause such an event. It was known by Timon's colony as the Great Meerkat Massacre.

This was long ago, when the Pride Lands were just newly settled by lions at all. The hyenas once lived in peace with them, but after the massacre, the lions of the time were so outraged, every hyena there was exiled to the Elephant Graveyard. And out of fear that the lions would do the same, the meerkats migrated as far away as they could, to the barren desert that Timon spent his childhood.

Nyota sighed. She laid there on her stomach by the tree, trying to figure out how she would word this. She looked up to the trees, watching their leaves blow softly in the wind.

"I wish you were here, mom. You too, dad." she said softly. But before she could think any further, she heard a twig snap behind her. She quickly got up on all fours again and spun around to where she heard it. And to her shock, she saw a lone meerkat, standing in front of her now. The meerkat looked nothing short of terrified. The two looked at each other for a moment until the meerkat took a few steps back from Nyota. Nyota, after a moment of awkward hesitation, finally said,

"Uh... hi?"

The meerkat was not idle for another second. In an instant, he took off screaming in fear, no doubt going off to warn the others. Nyota quickly became distressed, realizing that any hope for an alliance was fading.

"Wait! Wait a second!" she shouted to him, starting to run after him. "I-I just need to talk to you!" She continued. From there, Nyota and the meerkat ran rapidly through the thick jungle, dodging trees and tripping over roots. At one point, Nyota harshly stubbed her paw against a large rock, sending her sliding to the ground, scraping her chest badly. She lay there for only a second, observing the blood beginning to emerge from her front right paw, and looking down to the new large red mark across her chest. She took little notice of it as she got back up and went on. She'd lost sight of the meerkat now, and her paw was beginning to throb with pain now. But ignoring it, she went on to where she saw him run to.

Eventually, she cut through some particularly tall ferns and grasses, and saw the other side of them. There, she saw where the meerkat was going- the center of where the colony was, surrounding a large lake at the base of a waterfall, with the setting sun behind the tall mountain in the distance. And in an instant, there was panic.

At the sight of Nyota emerging from the plants, the entire colony scattered in nothing short of a panic. They ran in all directions, screaming, bolting for cover in the depths of the jungle. Nyota could make out just a few things that some of them said. Things like,

"Run for your life!', "Everyone for themselves!". and "No, not here! Not again!"

Nyota took a few steps up.

"W-wait, everyone!" she said. "Listen! Listen, I need-"

Before she could finish, she lost her footing suddenly and tumbled off the edge of a rock ledge she didn't see, leading into the lake. She flipped forward in the air, striking the surface of the water headfirst. Nyota went under, painfully struggling to get her head back up to the surface. For a moment, she could barely see a thing with all the bubbles around her, but eventually she managed to get her head up again. Recovering from that unexpected plunge, she coughed and hacked briefly before she could breathe again. Hyenas were never known to be good swimmers, but she managed.

Struggling, she went over to her left, and weakly crawled onto dry ground. Completely ignoring her dripping wet fur now, she looked around. Panic was still fresh in the air, but she noticed that almost none of them were around now. Most of the meerkats were now hidden within the bushes, or scurried up trees. Nyota sighed and remembered something that he mother once said:

_When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose._

"Please, everyone listen!" She said, walking around searching for anyone. "Listen! I-...we need your help!"

Her words did little. By now, the panic had died down entirely, and the only sound that could be heard was that of the graceful waterfall in the distance. At first, Nyota thought this meant they were listening, but then she realized this wasn't the case.

"Please, we need your help!" Nyota shouted louder now. "There is an army of Uruk Hai orcs from Isengard marching to the Pride Lands as we speak! We need your help to stop them! If we don't, the Pride Lands are going to be destroyed!"

The silence persisted for a moment. Nyota could hear the sounds of the nighttime insects and birds in the distance. The sun was nearly done setting, and the very first of the stars could be seen now.

"Please", Nyota went on, beginning to become severely dismayed at the silence. "My name is Nyota. My pack and I want to save the Pride Lands... but we can't do it without you all. If my pack is ready to give their lives for those who never even cared about us, couldn't you too?"

Finally after much patience, a single meerkat appeared from the ferns around the lake. He appeared to be very old, and his fur was mostly grey with age. He twitched in fear at the sight of Nyota.

"W-what do you want?" He asked.

"We need your help. To... to form an alliance." Said Nyota. "The Uruk Hai are going to get there by tonight."

"W-why would we have an alliance with hyenas?" The scared meerkat said, sounding afraid and angry at the same time. Nyota hesitated.

"I know this isn't going to be easy." she said. "But I know you care about the Pride Lands. And I know that you wouldn't want them to be destroyed by Isengard."

"Since when do you care about the Pride Lands?!" A female voice called out, sounding mad. Then, another meerkat emerged next to the old one. She appeared to be old aged as well, but nearly so as the male.

"They've always hated you! Why do you want to save them?" She asked. Nyota took a deep breath, and her tone became solemn and much more sincere.

"Because I know you're Timon's colony."

The meerkats still hiding in the bushes all around her gasped at the mention of Timon. Then, some light chatter began to emerge from them. The old female took a few steps closer to Nyota with a sad look on her face.

"How do you know about my son?" She asked. Then it hit Nyota- this was Timon's mother. She sighed.

"My parents told me about him. My parents and my uncle used to attack your colony just for fun, back before king Simba was even born."

"What did they say?" the old male asked. Nyota replied, with her tone becoming just a bit more humorous, "Well, it was kind of weird, actually. They... said that he proposed to my mother right before Scar died."

"Yep, that's Timon alright." The old male said to himself. Nyota realized that he must've been Timon's Uncle Max.

"How do we know you're not lying about this, and there is no army?" asked Timon's mother, sounding extremely suspicious. Nyota spoke again, her tone becoming sincere again.

"Alright, I think we got off on the wrong paw here. Let me start over- my name is Nyota. My parents names were Shenzi and Banzai, and my uncle's name was Ed. You know them. Recently, all three of them were slain mercilessly along with many others in my pack by the Nazgul of Mordor, ordered by Saruman himself. And ever since then, I've had a deep hatred for anything having to do with Mordor or Isengard. And if the army's coming from there, I'll do anything to get back at them... no matter who they're attacking."

"And why do you want to help the Pride Landers? What've they ever done for you?" Timon's mother asked, this time sounding much less suspicious. Nyota took a long, deep breath.

"Well... they've never really done anything to make me... like them. But think about this: My parents' entire pack was tortured by Scar under his reign, completely neglected. When Simba returned, many of them died in the Battle of Pride Rock. But we know for sure that they're in danger. If we just leave them to die, we'd be no better than Scar or Zira. The one my parents hated, the one who drove so many hyenas to starvation, we'd be the same as him- neglecting those who need help."

Nyota then turned away and sat down in the grass, looking away from them. As she did, Nyota could see that some of the fearful meerkats were beginning to emerge from the jungle depths, becoming sincerely curious about Nyota's words. Darkness and stars were befalling Hakuna Matata now, but the colony took little notice of it.

"And... I know about the Great Meerkat Massacre." Nyota said softly. The mention of the event was enough for some fierce conversation and talk to start up from those coming out of hiding. Timon's mother took a few steps closer to Nyota, who was looking extremely sad at the moment. She could tell even with the stars beginning to emerge.

"What they did to our ancestors was unforgivable, Nyota." said Timon's mother. "They murdered nearly every meerkat in the Pride Lands. If they'd gotten just a few more, half of us wouldn't be here!"

"I know", said Nyota, who was holding back tears at this point. "My... my father once told me that they did... what they did because the Pride Lands were going through a drought. It was either die of starvation, or..."

A single tear began to emerge from Nyota's eye. Even though she was turned away from them, this did not go unnoticed by some of the colony.

"And you have every right to have a prejudice against us because of it, but..."

She paused, beginning to sincerely sob. Ma and Uncle Max were near tears themselves, even.

"But what?" asked Max. Nyota wiped the tears away from her eyes with her bloodied paw before she continued.

"But... I just want things to go back to peace with us."

Wanting them all to get the full message, Nyota turned back around, facing the many watchful eyes upon her now. Some were still skeptical, but most of them seemed to sincerely believe her. A few of the younger ones in the colony sat down beside the edge of the lake, resting their feet in the cool waters. Even at their age, even they seemed to get what Nyota was saying.

"I've always hated the tension between the hyenas and you guys. You never did anything to us. When I was a pup, I always wanted to be friends with a meerkat. And... ever since my parents and uncle died, I've just felt so bad for every kill, and for every catch that we've got. I know we need meat to survive, but..."

Nyota began to weep sincerely now. She hardly knew why, but her thoughts were drifting towards many painful places and memories that she never wanted to relive within her mind.

"Some of my pack might call me a pushover because of that, and some of them argue that I'm only leader because my parents were, but..."

The female hyena looked up further, identifying the many sad looks she was getting. Even Ma and Uncle Max were near tears.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is... the Pride Landers are in danger. They'll be killed, maybe not right away because they're strong, but... claws and teeth against the swords and spears of Isengard? I want to make amends between them and my pack. You guys too, if we can."

There was a long moment of silence as Nyota sighed deeply, breathing heavily trying to catch her breath. During the silence, Uncle Max walked up to Nyota. He looked at her injured paw and the scrape against her chest. Max was never one to show very much of his sad side, but in this moment he was. The old meerkat looked up and spoke softly.

"Well... what would you want us to do, Nyota? We can't carry the same weapons they do. We're so much smaller than them."

Nyota hesitated, and wiped away some more tears. "I was... no, if I say, you'll never do it."

Uncle Max replied sincerely, "Well... if Timon or Zuri were here, they would want us to save the Pride Lands. And if they'd want us to do it, then we won't back down. Even if it means... putting the past behind us."

Timon's mother came up to him now, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "The past is the past, Max. We can't change it... but I think we can forgive the hyenas."

She looked up to the female hyena. "It was generations ago. We've held that prejudice for so long now... it's about time we move on. It was a tragic thing, sure, but... you don't sound like a typical hyena, Nyota. If you're willing to risk your life to save those that hate you... there must be some good in hyenas then."

Nyota smiled warmly at her words, and her tears ceased. "Thanks." She said.

"Now just tell us what we've gotta do to help, and we won't back down."

Nyota, feeling better about the reason she was there, wiped away the last of her tears and cleared her throat.

"Alright. We were hoping to make our way to the Pride Lands. Anybody who was fast enough would distract the orcs while we and the lionesses fight them. I don't know if we'll be able to save them... but I'd rather die trying and failing to make amends than not trying at all."

There was a long moment of reticence throughout the colony now. A few of them talked between one another, and others were still taking in Nyota's words. The hyena looked around. The colony looked inquisitive, but far from doubtful. She waited for someone to say something to her, but the talking continued for what seemed like an hour. Then she began to hear things from them, like "That's what Timon would do", or "We'll do it for Timon!".

Finally, after much careful thought, a large portion of the colony began to step forth in front of Nyota. Many meerkats walked out of their hiding places and into the open around her. They all had firm, but hopeful looks on their faces. They were tense, ready to die for those who needed them to. Nyota smiled. She only wished her parents could be there.

The crowd consisting of much of the colony stood in front of her. One of them within the crowd said,

"Lead the way, Nyota!"

Her smile grew warmer when they said this. "Thanks, guys." She said sincerely. She looked up to the stars. They all shone beautifully and vibrantly against the purple dusk of night. There were some clouds emerging from one side, but it did not at all perturb her. She looked upon them all again, proud and determined.

Timons' mother said, "Well Nyota... you've got yourself an alliance."

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**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review for more! A major battle is coming up, and I'll only write it if you review!**


	11. The Voice of Saruman

**Chapter XI: The Voice of Saruman**

"Kiara... Kiara, wake up!"

This was the first thing the lioness heard as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Kiara was just barely awake, but she could tell it was Kovu whispering to her from her side. Groaning with weariness and pain, her eyes opened completelt. But to her surprise and horror, she still saw darkness as if they were still shut.

"Where am I?" she said in a low whisper, which echoed all around the two of them. She heard Kovu then ask her,

"Kiara? Are... are you alright?"

Kiara raised her head up a little. She realized that she was laying on her stomach against a deathly cold, black stone wall with an even colder floor. All around her, the blackness of the room was eerie and terrifying.

"Yeah... I think so." She finally replied, trying to stand up and get a sense of where they were. But to her surprise, when she tried to, she was pulled right back onto the blood-chillingly cold floor. And when she hit, she heard the loud, clanking sound of heavy chains strike. Kiara got up again, and this time made more careful of an effort to stand. But then she realized that heavy, iron chains were latched onto her back leg. Tied to what, she couldn't even tell. The lioness tugged on the chains for a moment until Kovu called to her and said rather grimly,

"It's no use, Kiara... we're stuck here."

"Well... where _is_ here?" Kiara asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm... I think I'm on the other side of this place." Kovu replied. Kiara groaned sadly. Where was she?

"Are you hurt, Kovu?"

Kovu moved around a bit, rousing the chains against his leg a bit. The sheer freezing touch of them was enough to give Kovu goosebumps.

"No, I think I'm fine... I don't feel any blood anywhere."

There was a moment of silence in the place. Both of them felt nothing short of helpless, they couldn't see a thing in the pure blackness, and the fact that they were separated from one another with chains made the feeling all the more unbearable.

"Oh Kovu, where are we?" Kiara called out. Based on the large echo her voice made even at such a low tone, she could tell that wherever they were, the place was huge.

"I'm not sure, Kiara... Do you remember anything?" Kovu asked. While he did, Kiara had managed to stand up on all fours, but she could not move an inch beyond where she stood. The bulky, heavy chain that restrained them both on either sides of the room were very short, and neither Kiara nor Kovu had any freedom of movement.

"Well..." Kiara started. "I know that we were captured by the orcs, and..."

"O h my God!" Kovu shouted. His voice was extremely distressed, so the echo of it caused some pain to Kiara's ears.

"What? What is it?"

"Where's Kifo? Is he here too?" Kovu said, sounding worried for his father's safety. Immediately, Kiara could hear his chain move about in the darkness.

"Dad? Dad! Kifo? A-are you here?" He said, sounding genuinely and nothing short of horribly upset.

"Kiara! D-do you remember seeing him?"

The lioness thought for a moment, back to when the Uruk Hai attacked. Kovu couldn't see it in the dark, but Kiara shook her head.

"No... the last thing I remember was... we were being carried by the orcs on their backs. You were still unconscious. They were taking us through some kind of forest."

She paused.

"And... Kifo wasn't there."

The unsettling silence of the place could be felt right to the very core of their bones. Kovu could be heard breathing heavily, as if he were breaking down from the revelation. Within a few more moments, he began to sob. His tears were of painful sorrow, and because the silence, Kiara could hear them gently strike the stone floor. She lowered her head in sadness, unable to bear the sound of her mate in so much pain.

"Kovu," she said. "We... we'll get out of this. I promise. Kifo might not be here, but we'll find him. He's alive... I know it."

But suddenly, the two of them heard something. A voice, coming from the end of the room they were in. It was a deep, menacing voice that neither of them had ever heard before. It echoed through the blackness, and they could feel their blood turn to ice at the mere sound of it.

"You assume much, princess."

Kiara and Kovu gasped in shock. After they heard the voice, footsteps were heard treading in between them. They stopped abruptly.

"Who are you? What've you done with my father?!" Kovu shouted at him. He heard the voice chuckle softly.

"I have done nothing. But my army, on the other hand... They are the ones who have done the deed."

Kovu started to breathe deeply again. He could feel sweat begin to run across his fur, fearing the worst.

"Wait... army?" he said. Kovu and whoever made the voice could hear Kiara gasp in shock. In an instant, she realized where they were.

"Saruman..."

"Your senses serve you well, Kiara." He said. "I see now why you were chosen to bear the Ring."

Before either of them could comprehend what he said, something unexpected happened. A deep, red glow began to emerge from the center of the room, dimly illuminating the place. Kiara and Kovu could see for the first time since their last sleep, but when they saw what they did, they almost wished they hadn't. They saw the white wizard Saruman in his white cloak, holding his black staff in his right hand. His left hand was over the black, glass-like orb that was the Palantir. Within it, the horrifying, fiery eye of Sauron himself was seen. Both Kovu and Kiara's own eyes widened at the sight of this. Briefly, they saw around them that the room, decorated with ornate stone designs on the walls was in fact as large as they had perceived. Tall wooden doors were on all four sides of the place, and the Palantir rested upon a short, stone pillar that went half as tall as Saruman. The fiery eye with the black slit down the middle made a soft, but horrifying low pitched noise, like it was the voice of Sauron himself. If that was the case, Kiara and Kovu could not at all tell what it was saying.

"My lord", Saruman began. "I have captured the Ring bearers. The great army has proven their worth."

The eye was motionless, but the ominous, low pitched sounds of blowing air filled the chamber. and the place seemed to heat up intensely. Saruman looked down at the Palantir intently, and spoke menacingly.

"Yes, my lord. The army is drawing ever closer to the Land of Legend. Ten thousand strong, it is undoubtable- Pride Rock shall fall, and none shall have the strength to stand against the might of the union of the two towers."

Kiara was the first one to react to this. She shouted angrily at him, "You... you monster! I swear, if I get out of this alive-"

The lioness never got to finish that sentence. For she was cut off by yet another voice within the room, dimly lit by the eye and the eye alone. It was a female voice this time, one that just begged of bloodlust. And most horrifically of all, both Kiara and Kovu knew exactly who this voice was coming from.

"-Then I may have the pleasure of having you squeal your final bloody breath of life within my grasp."

No. There was no possible way. Kovu could almost feel his heart skip two beats at the sound of that voice. Kiara felt as though she had just ingested the most agonizing of toxins known to Middle Earth when she heard it. In spite of the hot air filling the chamber because of the Eye, an incredible wave of cold and bitterness fell upon them both.

The figure who stood on four legs made herself known to them. Kovu made a deep, long lasting gasp at the sight of her.

Zira.

"Surprised to see me, Kovu?" she said. "I suppose you can say I'm surprised to see you... alive, that is."

His stunned expression looked upon her vibrantly glowing eyes that were enough to unnerve Saruman himself with absolute horror. His breathing became fast paced, his heartbeat picked up unnaturally fast, and the goosebumps upon his entire body were easily apparent. Kiara, on the other end of the room, was in a similar situation.

"No..." Kovu whispered as Zira walked up closer to him. "It... it's not you. I watched you die in the river! This is some sort of trick! You're doing this, Saruman!"

His voice grew to that of an intense shout of anger. Zira merely chucked to herself.

"It takes far more than a meager river to kill me, Kovu." She said. "And the way I see this... I'm only returning the favor."

"For... for what?" Kovu timidly asked, even though he knew full and well what the answer was going to be. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Zira raised her paw up and slashed Kovu across the face, spilling blood across the floor. The force of the strike was enough to send his head smashing against the hard ground, rousing the chains once more. Kiara screamed in horror at the sight of this.

"For betraying Scar and I you ungrateful traitor!" Zira screamed in anger. "I treat you like a prince, and what do you do? Single handedly kill the only blood son of Scar because you would not follow a simple order of vengeance!"

Slowly recovering from the new wounds across his face, he wiped the blood from his muzzle and struggled to stand up, facing Zira again.

"You... you never treated me like a prince, Zira." He said through gritted teeth. "Every day you abused Vitani and I, brainwashed us, made us bleed every time we couldn't get you to, and you nearly drowned Vitani because she wouldn't call you mother!"

"That's because I _am_ your mother, Kovu! I gave birth to you, I-"

"That's a lie!" Kovu screamed, exploding with anger. Kiara could do little else but helplessly watch this go down, chained to her end of the room. Tears were running down her face. Whether they were from Kovu's injuries or from simply knowing Zira was alive, she could hardly tell.

"I met my real father in the mountains... he says you _killed_ my real mother when Vitani and I were infants! And you tried to kill my father too! You pretty much kidnapped us and passed us off as yours!"

Zira gave him a rather unimpressed look, yet it was apparent that she was in deep thought, looking down.

"Hmmm... so the bastard survived, did he?" She said. "It doesn't matter. If our army succeeded, that is no longer the case."

Kovu looked at her for a second. His face grew from horror, then to fear, and then to deep incense in a matter of moments. Without any warning, Kovu began to scream at the top of his lungs, clawing through the air in vein, hoping to strike her. He did little to escape the chains, but his enraged efforts went on, moving around crazily trying to strike.

"Where is he? I'll kill you! I'll kill you, do you hear me?! I will murder you right now you heartless, self centered shrew! You monster! You whore!"

Kovu's rage continued on, but Zira took no notice of it as she simply turned away from him, and began to walk to the other end of the room. At this point, Saruman was paying close attention to the scene, his hand still steady above the Palantir, with the eye still in view. Zira grew an evil smile as she paced towards Kiara. Zira expected her to be cowering in fear, but to her surprise, she was standing as tall as the chains would allow, giving her a hateful, angry look. Kiara growled when Zira got close.

"Ah, Kiara... I mustn't forget you in this travesty that you dare to call a quest." Her cold, wretched voice said. For a second, Kiara noticed that this was the first time Zira had ever addressed her by name.

"You're not going to put Kovu through any more pain, do you hear me Zira?" Kiara said angrily to her. But Zira ignored her words.

"Truly, Kovu has fallen to the lowest form of scum to fall for you. You would be dead now if he had only followed orders." Zira replied. Kiara growled louder.

"I truly should kill you now." Zira went on slyly.

"Don't you lay a paw on her you wench!" Kovu screamed. Zira ignored him.

"But before I do, you must tell me something."

Kiara hesitated before speaking. "What are you talking about?" She said to her. Zira sighed and replied in an almost annoyed tone,

"Ah, Kiara, you truly do take me for a fool, don't you? Well then, if you will not answer to me, surely you will answer to the White Wizard himself, will you not?"

Suddenly, Kiara saw Saruman walk away from the pillar the Palantir was on, and he walked towards her rather slowly. As he did, the Eye of Sauron within it turned its gaze towards the lioness, who was now having her brave expression fade into fear. She tried as hard as she could not to look into the fire of the Eye, but it was futile. She stared into the flames emerging from the black slit down the center, and she could hear the low pitched, wind-like sound from it. Saruman kneeled down in front of her, and had a very serious, if not somewhat angry look towards her. He held his black staff upright still.

"Where is the Ring, Kiara?" He said in his deep voice.

At first, Kiara looked genuinely confused at this. "W-what?" She said. Suddenly, Saruman gripped his staff with both hands, and aimed it in Kiara's direction. The lioness grew a look of terror on her face as the end of the black staff glowed a dim light of light blue, and then it suddenly burst out in brightness, blinding her for a second. This sudden occurance shocked Kovu more than he thought it would.

"No! Don't do anything to her!" He cried helplessly. But his pleas went ignored. Saruman, without any pity or hesitation in the slightest, began to use his wizardry to create an unseen, but powerful grip around Kiara's neck. Immediately the lioness could not breathe, and was choking under the will of Saruman.

"We know that you are on a quest to destroy the One Ring of Sauron, Kiara. Where is it?" Saruman asked intensely. Even if Saruman was to get a response, Kiara could not utter a single word, as her own suffocation was unbearable. The lioness grabbed at her throat, gasping for air beneath the might if the white wizard, but it hardly did anything. This went on for a short while, with Zira enjoying every second of her suffering. Eventually, Kiara's face began to grow pale, and her suffocation was becoming lethal. Her chokes and gasps for air were no match against Saruman's dark wizardry. Kovu watched this from the other end of the room, and in his mind he cursed the very chains that restrained him. Even though he knew for certain he would not break free, he tugged and pulled on the chain latched to his foot, screaming trying to rip them off. He clawed at the floor, desperately trying to crawl across.

"No! Kiara!" He screamed. "Don't do this! We... we don't have the Ring!"

In an instant, Kiara felt a surge of air enter her lungs once more, not a mere second before she would've lost consciousness for the last time. She fell to the ground, and gasped deeply for air harder than she'd ever done in her life. Her entire body was sallow, and her fur almost seemed to turn dull and far less vibrant than before. Her eyes were bloodshot from the lack of air, and she stayed on the ground for several minutes in this painful position. Saruman, who had released his unseen grip on her, turned back to Kovu quickly, looking rather shocked. Zira did the same.

There was a long moment of silence through the chamber, as now even the Eye of Sauron within the Palantir turned its gaze to Kovu. The sight of it was painful, to say the least, but Kovu endured it. Zira, who was far more enraged by his last comment, ran over to him and stopped just close enough so that he couldn't reach her.

"What are you talking about?" She hissed, with Saruman now coming up behind her. Kovu took a deep breath.

"We don't have the Ring!"

Instantly, the Eye of Sauron, though lidless, seemed to grow a look of anger and hatred towards Kovu. And Zira's eyes at that moment were not far off from the same exact look. Saruman's mouth fell open just a small bit in horror mixed with anger, and he spoke.

"You are a horrendous lier, Kovu. We know for certain that you possess it!"

Zira added, "We saw in the Palantir a lion and a lioness were bearing it! We sent the army to retrieve the both!"

In that moment, Kovu got it. He realized just what was going on here. Slowly, his temper cooled down, and he sighed.

"Zira... that wasn't us. That was two more members of our fellowship." He said. "But who they were, I'll never say. You mistook us for them!"

The lioness growled at him loudly.

"And look at me! Look at us! I don't even have a way to carry it!" Kovu continued. Another moment of painful silence following this was shattered when the Eye began making its horrific, low pitched sound resembling wind, and it echoed through the chamber. The sound of it pained their ears greatly, and the reddish-orange light it produced became far brighter than before.

"Then the Uruk Hai has failed in their primary task." said Saruman. "We may now only hope that their secondary task proves successful."

Kovu grew worried at that statement. "What are you talking about?... what other task?"

Saruman glared at Kovu for a moment. He said menacingly, "You are no longer of any use to us, Kovu." He said. "You and your mate shall burn in the fires of Isengard as a message to your fellowship. One that will signify what the future holds for them if they do not submit the Ring to us immediately."

But while the wizard spoke, Zira was in deep thought. Her head was bowed, formulating some sort of idea. When Saruman finished talking with Kovu, a wicked, evil smile spread along her mouth. She chuckled softly, which caught Saruman's attention.

"What are you laughing at?" Kovu said hatefully. Saruman said nothing while Zira gave her response after a moment of silence.

"Saruman... they may not be the Ring bearers... but they may yet prove to be of some use to us."

The wizard looked down to her as she began to crawl slyly around the chamber, specifically towards Kiara, much to Kovu's anxiousness. The look of her glowing yellow eyes were

"You see, if these two were caught, the others must have witnessed their capture. So if they witnessed their capture, they must know that they are here, and they will try to save you."

"They don't!" said Kiara, who was still attempting desperately to catch her breath. "We broke off from them! They didn't know we were captured! They probably think we're dead!"

Zira merely chuckled to herself. Saruman and the Eye were simply standing there, watching and listening where Zira was going with this.

"That's not what the Palantir showed us." She said. "They saw you being taken from a distance. In fact, they are on their way here as we speak."

Still walking slyly around, she came up to Kiara, standing hardly an inch out of her farthest reach. "And if they're coming here... they will practically be bringing the One Ring of Power straight to Sauron himself."

Eerily, Saruman's eyes widened as he clutched onto the black staff. The Eye of Sauron seemed to get a reaction as well, emitting an even louder sound this time. And as Zira finished speaking her idea, her voice became increasingly excited and insane.

"You see, Saruman... we can kill these two now as we please. Or... we could use them as bait... lure the others into Orthanc... kill them all as they watch... and we _take_ the Ring!"

Soon, Saruman looked intently at Zira when she faced him. Kiara and Kovu both had looks of shock on their faces, but Saruman seemed pleased with her idea. He thought deeply.

"This plan of yours, Zira... it may just work."

"No... no!" Kiara whispered. But Zira turned to her again.

"Oh yes, Kiara! You and your _traitor_ of a mate will have the privilege of watching your family have their blood spilled upon the top of this tower, and witness the dawning of a new age for Middle Earth! The age of Sauron!"

"You can't do this, Zira!" shouted Kovu. "There's two of you, and there's nine of them! They'll rip you apart faster than you can blink if they hear what you're trying to do!"

Saruman then spoke to him. "Ah, Kovu, you narrow minded fool. The powers of wizardry go far beyond what you could possibly understand. For they will be dead faster than they can know what we are to do."

"You're sick! You know that? You're insane! My father can kill you easily!"

Saruman expected that to come from Kovu, but surprisingly, the hate filled scream came from Kiara. It echoed for a moment until Zira clawed her way across the ground towards her. Saruman simply stood.

"Oh, Kiara... if you only knew the things I knew of the fellowship's current fate. When they get here... _if_ they get here, you may find that there are now less than nine among them.

Kiara stared at her with anger, mixed with a hint of fear. "W-what are you talking about?" She said. Zira chuckled.

"All will be revealed to you, Kiara. Not that it will matter by the time you know."

And with that, Zira ran back behind her to the pillar where the Palantir rested. She leaped up on her hind legs for a moment, and rested her front ones against the pillar, standing nearly upright. She peered down towards the Eye of Sauron, viciously and evilly smiling at the sight of it. She laughed.

"We may not have found the Ring Bearer, Sauron, but we have found the ones who can bring him to us! The army has yet to fail entirely, my lord!"

Zira then slowly placed her paw over the orb containing the fiery eye, and the deep, wind-like sounds from it intensified greatly. Zira looked upon it with absolute bliss until she bent back down and stood on all fours again. With a wave of Saruman's hand, the Eye was whisked away from view, and the chamber grew dark once more. Kiara and Kovu, once again, could see nothing but the creepy glow of Zira's own eyes. Horrified didn't even begin to cover how they felt at the moment. But at the same time, they were also confused. What was this 'second task' that the Uruk Hai were carrying out? What did Zira mean when she said there was 'less than nine' of their fellowship? Did something happen after they left? Was the entire world as they knew it being engulfed in flames at the will of the Uruk Hai?

They simply had no clue as to what was going on. But needless to say, the answers were not going to be easy. Nor were they going to be painless in the slightest.

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**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you review! I promise, the major battle for the story is definitely coming, so check back soon!**


	12. The Two Journeys

**Author's Note: I should probably tell you know that this is probably the darkest chapter out of them all so far, so please be ready for some very serious tragedy here. Please review!**

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**Chapter XII: The Two Journeys**

Although the sun was setting upon the land, no single ray of sunlight was able to pierce its way through the thick, grey, lifeless clouds that surrounded Orthanc.

Nala, Kivuli, and the remnants of the fellowship were near collapse from exhaustion. For days on end, they had ran at full speed without rest, slept as little as four hours a night, and were nothing short of wearily exhausted. Nala's paws were soar and aching. She had never run so fast and for so long in her entire life. Kivuli, who was just a bit more adapted to those contitions, fared better, but he too was growing drained of energy. Timon and Zuri were upon Pumbaa's back, so they fared the best. Zuri was in desperate need of comfort from Timon, knowing full and well that two of her friends lives were on the line. Rafiki was also rather enervated from the affair, given his age. But with the spirit of Mufasa himself providing strength, he persisted.

But as tired and exhausted as they were, when they scaled one particular hill in the middle of a forest, all thought of exhaustion eluded them each.

Atop a grassy hill in a forest filled with trees, they looked ahead. Against the dull, lifeless sky stood the looming black tower of Orthanc in the center of Isengard. Smoke was rising all around it, but it wasn't particularly thick. The mountains surrounding the place seemed dull and depressing, almost. And within the ring of stone, trenches and fires that surrounded Orthanc, the silence was uncanny. A bitter, freezing breeze swept all throughout Isengard and nearby Dunland. And although some orcs and men of the Uruk Hai did remain within the bounds of the five hundred foot, spiked tower, the place was ghostly empty. That was what lay beyond the gates of Isengard.

The fellowship looked upon the tower with bravery, determined not to show any fear. Nala growled under her breath at the sight of it. Her deep blue eyes seemed to turn red knowing how great of danger her daughter and son-in-law were in. Kivuli still stood ahead of her. He said,

"Isengard... dwelling place of Saruman. Ally of Barad-Dur."

Kivuli took a deep breath, and looked back to the rest of them all.

"This will be a task that will greatly challenge our physical limits. Saruman can very easily kill us at a moment's notice."

Entirely undeterred, Nala took a few steps forward. She said, "Yeah? Well... my only regret is only having one life to give."

And with that, she shot forth through the trees outside of Isengard. The others made haste just as she did, and caught up with her easily despite their near exhaustion from the journey here. There they were, nearing the gates of Saruman's stronghold, the trees wisping past, little more then green and grey blurs around them. Nala led them on now. The wind in her face felt almost refreshing since she was still so weary. Her gaze never left the tower of Orthanc, and the same could be said for the others, for now they could finally get a good look at Barad-Dur's strongest ally. The black, tall tower seemed to have been made by some force other than man or elf. It was gleaming despite the lack of sun. Four mighty piers of many sided stone seemed to be welded into one, but near the summit they could all see the horn-like spikes, sharp as the points of spears, shaped nearly like knives. Between them was a narrow space.

Timon, despite trying to look brave, had his fear held within was emerging and showing greatly with Timon's posture and expression. He gaped at the sight of the tower, eyes widened. Fearful for what horrors could be within the tower, Timon abruptly gripped onto Zuri's hand tightly for comfort, and she looked at him when he did this. She noticed the look on his face, and she brought him close to her.

"You don't have to pretend you're not scared, Timon." She said. "I'm scared too."

It was a bit difficult to speak to him with how fast Pumbaa was running, but they managed. Timon finally tore his gaze away from Orthanc and peered over to his mate. The two meerkats, fully aware of the danger ahead, came close and embraced each other closely. They fell into a deep hug, one of hope. While Timon rested his head upon her shoulder, he said,

"You know, I imagined that thing looking taller than this."

Zuri chuckled at that thought. She gripped Timon's other hand tightly, never wanting to let go. But eventually, they did. Kivuli looked back and saw this briefly, though by now it was difficult to see beneath the thick branches and leaves of the forest. However at the expense, Kivuli didn't look ahead of him in time to see a rock extending out of the forest ground. And with enormous speed and force, his front paw struck the rock, sending a surge of pain shooting through it. He stumbled around while running a bit, but he did not lose his balance. Nala noticed that he had grunted loudly in pain through gritted teeth.

"Kivuli! Are you okay?" She said. The lion did little more than ignore the pain surging in his throbbing paw now, and looked onward once more.

"I'm fine, Nala. We will reach the walls of Isengard in little time!" He replied, using his paw once more again as if he had never stubbed it. Blood was beginning to emerge from it now in red streams, but he persisted. He had been through far worse pain at a far younger age than this, so this was nothing.

They ran like this for what seemed like an hour. The sky was getting darker from the setting sun behind the clouds, and all available light was diminishing. It wasn't until now that Timon and Pumbaa began to wonder just what lived in this forest. But their thoughts were cut short.

"Stop! Ahead, the walls of Isengard lay!" Kivuli shouted to them all. Kivuil slowed down his pace significantly, even tearing up some of the grass under his paws in doing so. Nala slid across the ground, but she kept her balance. Pumbaa and Rafiki halted as well, though the sudden stop made Timon and Zuri get forced forward, flipping Zuri over Pumbaa's head. But before she fell to the ground, she grabbed onto one of Pumbaa's tusks, and pulled herself over again to Timon, still recovering from the thrust.

Sure enough, there it lay: A black, stone wall that surrounded the entire ring of Isengard. Even in the growing darkness, Orthanc loomed imposingly ahead of them, looking larger and taller than ever, the spikes dotting the tower's height all the more visible. All of the fellowship members stopped at the foot of the wall, attempting to catch their breaths. Nala, Pumbaa and Rafiki were panting heavily from such a mad dash to there. Kivuli seemed to be unaffected in his breathing, though. He sat down in the grass, hood down and looked at his bloodied left paw. He could see a part of it bruising up already, and blood was seeping out of the gash across it. Nala, who stopped right by him, noticed this and gasped. Whether it was from seeing his wound or from still catching her breath, no one ever knew.

"Kivuli!" She said. "Are you alright? That looks pretty bad."

Nala had a look of slight disgust at the sight of his bloody, bruised gash. But despite the immense pain coming from it, Kivuli still rested it upon the ground.

"It is nothing severe, Nala, I assure you. I have been through worse than this." He said.

And with that, all of the others gazed up at the wall. It looked to be about fifty feet tall, constructed out of rough, dark grey stone, dwarfing them all in size. Beyond the walls was where they had ventured so far to get to to save two souls who had been captured by Saruman's might from death or torture. Nala turned to Kivuli.

"Do you know where the gate to this is?" She asked. When she did, Kivuli pulled his dull red hood back over his head, once again hiding his eyes. He seemed to grin.

"Gates? Who said anything about gates, Nala?" He said, standing up once more.

"Uh, say what?" said Timon, sounding afraid as to where the lion was going with this. Kivuli walked forth to the massive, thick walls, and stopped just at the foot of them. He peered up.

"Everyone", he started. "The gates will not be an option. If we do try to get in from there, we will be killed on sight."

"So could we sneak in? Without him seeing us?" Nala asked. Kivuli turned back to her. He replied,

"Nala, if the odds went as I suspected them to... Saruman already knows we are here."

And the odds were precisely as he thought. For up at the very summit of Orthanc, even with the winds flowing strongly, Saruman stood five hundred feet above the landscape, holding his black staff. His white cloak and long hair flowed in the air, as he stared down intently at the spot where he knew the fellowship was. Though he could not see the members himself, he knew for certain that they were in fact there. The Palantir had shown it to him.

"So, the bait has worked, then." He said. Suddenly, Zira emerged, coming up from the hard, stony staircase that led to the roof of Orthanc. She looked outward with her yellow, glowing eyes. Night had officially fallen in the region of Dunland.

"There was never a doubt, my lord." Zira said. Saruman then turned back to her, and saw her sleek figure against the night sky.

"Fetch the prisoners, Zira, and bring them up to here. It will not be long before the Ring of Power is within our grasp."

Zira nodded, and she started back down the long staircase, ready to bring Kiara and Kovu up there against their will. However, as she did, she could feel something- an unnerving, blood-curdling feeling that sent goosebumps all throughout her body at the mention of the One Ring. And then she began to think. Even when Scar was alive, she was more obsessed with it than he ever was. It dark energy had seduced and drawn it to her long ago, and ever since the Ring had left her grasp, it was the only thing she could ever think about. And that was why she had this feeling. She was ready to finally reclaim what she believed was hers, and finally succeed in getting it since she failed to with the attempted assassination of Simba. Already, the battle with the Outlanders seemed to have been ages ago, and already it seemed to be the stuff of legend.

The mere thought of reclaiming the most powerful object in Middle Earth made her breath heavily and quickly with excitement. But not of pure excitement, but excitement of an evil, blood-lusting, malicious kind. More than anything, she desired to do nothing more than watch the world burn at her will; to laugh at the Pride Lands engulfed in flames a second time, to see Minas Tirith ravaged with the carnage of Mordor, to watch the innocent peoples and villages of Rohan crushed with spilled blood as far as the eye can see, and to have the very mountains of the world collapse into a deep, dark, endless abyss and have their majestic forms crumble into oblivion. For at the heart of it all would be herself with the One Ring of Power, claimed for her own. She longed to be able to overthrow Saruman, rip apart Barad-Dur with her bare claws and have her own dark tower built in its place in the fires of Mordor.

For this was her deepest, most desired of dreams. She practically worshipped the Ring. And as she entered the dark chamber Kiara and Kovu were in, these thoughts ran rampant, thinking she was about to claim the Ring. And Zira was more than willing to do anything it took to make her vision become a hellish, bloody reality.

* * *

The plains of Dagorlad lay starkly barren as Kopa and Vitani treaded across them. Smeagol continued to lead the two of them as he promised, and so far his promise was being well kept. For the plains of Dagorlad was the final stage of their long, hard journey to Mordor. The Mountains of Shadow lay ahead, seeming larger than they ever did. They were taller, sharper and more imposing than they had ever appeared. Night was falling upon the place quickly, which vibrantly illuminated the only light that they had at that moment- the reddish orange glow of Mount Doom, beyond the black mountains. Aside from the glow, the place was nothing short of lifeless. Black and shades of grey dominated this landscape, and like with Isengard, the sky was filled with grey, lifeless clouds, riddled with thick smoke high in the air from the fires of Orodruin. The plains of Dagorlad had always been like this- lifeless, barre, and all around depressing for the lions to be in.

Kopa and Vitani paced forth. Smeagol crawled on all fours still, seeming to be rather excited about where they were.

"Come master! Very close now!" He said. "Very close, we leads master to Mordor! Yes, we did, precious! And we will!"

Kopa gave a bit of a weak smile to Smeagol. "I have to admit, Smeagol, you've been doing much better at this than I thought you would." He said. Vitani said nothing and simply looked up to Smeagol with her bloodshot eyes.

Over the last few days, they had slept for barely a few hours a night, and edible food was becoming harder and harder to find as they went on. Because they hadn't bathed in so long, Vitani's dull, ungroomed shade of fur had returned to her, and Kopa was looking increasingly scruffy and dirty too. But such things were hardly any concern. For even though food was scarce, it was not altogether gone. Occasionally, they would find a rogue deer or other wandering animal. And up until then, small ponds and lakes were the best sources for water.

As they walked through the depressing lands, Vitani could not take her gaze away from the light that flickered beyond the mountains, staring intently at it.

"Mordor..." She said to herself. "So this is where we've been trying to get to."

Kopa glanced at his mate. "We're almost there, Vitani. Soon... we'll be able to go back to the Pride Lands. We can touch the grass again, feel the water, and taste the zebra."

Vitani smiled at the thought of such things. "I just hope Akarudi and Kijani are doing fine." She said. Kopa looked at her.

"I'm sure they are. After all, the Shire isn't exactly Sauron's first pick for dominating." Kopa said facetiously, which made his mate smile further. Vitani took a deep breath.

"Hey Kopa... do you think we'll ever be put into stories or songs?" She asked of Kopa. The lion perked up when she said this.

"What do you mean?"

Vitani replied, mimiking a future conversation, "I wonder if people will ever say, '_let's hear the one about Kopa and the Ring!_'. And they'll say, '_Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Kopa was really brave, wasn't he, dad?_'. '_Yes my boy, the most famous lion who ever lived... and that's saying a lot'_."

When she spoke, her tone was surprisingly playful for the conditions. Kopa smiled deeply as they walked side by side. The lion decided to play along.

"Huh", he started. "You left out one of the most important characters- Vitani the Strong. I want to hear more about Vitani."

He turned and looked deeply into his mate's eyes. "Kopa wouldn't have gotten far without her."

Vitani chuckled softly at his comment. "Kopa, don't make fun of me. I was being serious."

Kopa smiled even warmer. "So was I." He replied softly.

Had it not been for what happened next, this moment would've been the most passionate moment between the two of them since they found Smeagol. For while still ahead of them, Smeagol gasped at the sight of something ahead.

"Masters! Masters come quickly! Fires ahead! Fires ahead!" He shouted. Quickly looking away from each other, they saw Smeagol beginning to panic over something. And when they both squinted forth, they saw what Smeagol was referring to, they saw the strangest thing- smoke was rising in the distance. It was not coming from Mount Doom or anywhere past the mountains. It was coming right from the plains themselves. And at the base of the rising columns of smoke, pits of fire could be seen.

"What is that?" Kopa said, genuinely curious about this. Vitani squinted harder.

"I can't tell." She said. "It... it almost looks like some kind of bonfire."

"Maybe there's someone there!" Said Kopa with some enthusiasm. "Someone who has food or water for us!"

"No, no!" Smeagol protested. "Must keep going! Must keep going, precious! The precious must move on!"

Kopa gave Smeagol a suspicious look for a moment. "No, I want to see what's over there. There's not supposed to be anything this close to the gates." He said.

"I'll go with you." Vitani said, who was just as curious as her mate was about this. Smeagol tried to say something else, but Vitani growled at him as she and Kopa began to walk past, making him go quiet. Smeagol sighed, and for once was following Kopa and Vitani. They knew they didn't want to stray from their course eastwards, but this could've been something of great help to them.

The fires that they saw were to the northeast, and not very far off from where they were. They walked forth for some time upon the gravel covered plains as the flames got larger. And as they did, their curiosity steadily grew as well. This close to Mordor, who or what could've been making those fires? Would they be hospitable towards them? And would they have food for them?

Tragically, these questions were answered in the one way they hoped for them not to be. For in the now dead of night, the clouds entirely blocking out the stars, the flames and smoke appeared not to be tamed or held within any place. For the fires were spread out over a large area, as if some place had been burned down. Seeing this, Kopa and Vitani's pace quickened, their curiosity turning into fear. Now running past rocks and smaller stones, Smeagol crawled along the ground just behind them both, quickening his pace.

Soon, when they got close enough, they could see clearly what the fires were. Kopa and Vitani both stopped abruptly nearby, and looked upon the place. As they had suspected, the fires were wild and untamed. And then the horror of the scene set in: They gasped when they realized that this was a village, or at least once was. What looked like wooden houses and farms were being engulfed in the blaze, charred, fallen trees were scattered everywhere, and they also noticed that every wooden structure not burning was smashed into bits, nothing more than scattered, messy piles of debris everywhere within the inferno.

They looked in horror at the scene. They had never known any kind of village to exist so close to Mordor, but that didn't concern them. Kopa gaped at the sight of it.

"W... what is this?" he said. Vitani, also gaping at the place, replied, "I don't know."

Whatever village was once here was utterly gone. The fires and thick, black smoke spread for about twenty acres of the place. Evidently, it was once a rather large village. But as for who lived there, they did not know.

Nor would they have to guess. For after looking on for a few seconds, they began to hear something within the crackling, smoldering blaze- voices. Voices of women, and a screaming infant. It was hard to hear, but they did as their ears perked up. The horror was now only beginning to set in- there were people here. People in need of help.

"Oh my God..." said Vitani when she heard the screaming infant. Without another word, the lioness sprinted forth in fear, hoping to get a closer view of the burning village. Without thinking, Kopa followed. Smeagol, reluctant to go so close to the huge fires, stayed where he was, crouching down and looking upon the place.

Kopa and Vitani approached the burning village. The fires were immensely hot just from getting near them, ashes were thick in the air, and they could see charred remains of quaint homes and farms across the place. The fires absolutely smothered the homes, and flowed around in the wind with tremendous sound and loudness. When the two of them entered the boundaries of the place, the screaming in agony of only one particular woman could be heard in the distance. They couldn't see her, but through the bright, hot fires and rushing sounds they made, she was heard. The whole affair became very loud very fast.

"Hello! Hello, is someone there?" Kopa called out. He recieved no reply but the screaming which, to his alarm, was beginning to fade- like whoever was making it was dying right then and there. Kopa gaped once more as the fires came dangerously close to them at points.

"Hello! Are you there?" Vitani screamed, hoping for some kind of response. The screaming of the woman before was not reduced to only that of a low moaning, and the sheer agony apparent within her voice was extremely painful to listen to. Kopa and Vitani did not need a response for what they did next. They sprinted forth, dodging the flames by staying in the center of what remained of the cobblestone roads. Most of them seemed like they were violently ripped up from the ground, holes everywhere. Single beams of wood stood within the fires all around them. And already, the searing heat was becoming a major problem for them both. But they persisted. Staying in the roads, they scurried along, going left and right at some points until, eventually, they reached the source of the cries in agony. At the same time, they almost wished they hadn't from the sheer horror of it.

They saw a human woman laying low on her back leaning against a charred beam of wood, face covered in ash and dirt. Her clothes were blackly charred and burnt, much of her hair was gone, and all of her skin seemed dried out and burnt very badly. Blood was emerging from her mouth, and it flowed freshly down from her jaw. The woman also had a horribly deep, bloody gash along her arm, as if something had actually cut halfway into it. She lay there, clutching a burnt blanket, most likely containing her baby.

The sight of her agony was too much to bear. Kopa and Vitani, avoiding the flames still, went forth to her. Thankfully, there were far less fires around her than most other spots, so she was generally safe from the flames and heat. The two lions sprinted and stopped just in front of her.

"Oh my God..." said Kopa as he looked down to the woman clutching her child in a burnt blanket. Her eyes were just barely open. Kopa came closer to her.

"Miss? Miss! Some on, we have to get you out of here!" Kopa said as calmly as he could, not that that helped a great deal. Vitani now came up to the woman, and the two of them watched as she softly squirmed around in her place, moaning with pain, no longer able to scream for help.

"Come on, you can't stay here!" Vitani said. "Here, I'll carry your baby, Kopa can-"

The lioness was cut off when the woman moaned especially loud in pain, only this time, they managed to pick up words from her. Apparently, she had become aware of their presence there. They listened closely as she coughed and hacked painfully.

"My... my dear son." She said sadly. Slowly, she turned the baby's blanket over, and as she did, Kopa and Vitani had never been so horrified and unsettled. For this woman's baby was horribly burnt all over, his face bleeding, and worst of all, he was not breathing. The baby was dead.

"They... they came... killed everyone... burned them..." The woman managed to choke out. Kopa and Vitani noticed that tears were streaming down from her eyes, and she was sobbing. Sadness overcame them now. There was a long moment where they were like this- just staring down the woman until she eventually looked up to them. They kneeled down to her.

"Who? Who did this?" Vitani said. The horribly burnt woman was in terrible agony, but she managed to choke out,

"Mordor. Barad Dur. Sauron."

"Mordor!" Kopa exclaimed. "So Sauron's already starting!"

The woman, still weeping and looking up, said, "The... the second age of darkness... has begun. We had... no warning."

As they watched her talk, the two of them were beginning to tear up in sadness as well. They knew they had to save this woman, but there was no longer any way to do so. She was going to die, and all of them knew it. Kopa was breathing heavily, as was Vitani as they listened to her soft voice.

"They killed... my husband. They... killed my son. Middle Earth will burn! The dark lord of Mordor... has returned!"

The woman clutched tighter onto the lifeless body of her baby, weeping into what remained of his blanket.

"I... I do not understand. Why must our fate be so cruel? We... were just a simply village. We never... had any... enemies."

For some comfort, Kopa placed his paw over the woman's forehead, and leaned in closer to her. The woman seemed hardly distressed that a lion was addressing her.

"Wait..." She said, eyes widening. "You are... a lion. You... are from the Land of Legend!"

Kopa gave a sad glance back at Vitani. "Yes... we both are."

The woman's voice became softer and harder to hear now. Evidently, she was fading fast as the blood all across her mouth continued to flow.

"W-what... a privilege... to stare i-into the eyes of... of a Pride Lander b-before... my... my final moment."

She seemed to take little notice in the Ring around Kopa's neck. For there was something else Kopa had on his mind.

"Miss... are there any survivors here? We can still save you!"

The woman shook her head unstably. "No... not a one." She said, tearing up once more. "The army... stormed us from the east. None... are alive. Men... women, and c-children. D-dead here."

At this point, the experience here was nothing short of mortifying and depressing. The woman was dying, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The guilt came across them harder than it ever had.

"Miss..." Kopa said in an attempt to comfort her. "My mate and I... we were going to Mordor. To end this. To put an end to Sauron once and for all."

Though it was very faint and almost invisible, the woman gave a very weak smile. "Y-you are? Oh... thank God... perhaps now... other realms... Rohan... Gondor... will not suffer as we have."

The woman moaned in pain some more, but it was faint and almost inaudible. Her head began to tilt backwards, which alarmed Kopa greatly. Vitani could do nothing more but watch this event go down in sadness, tears in her eyes.

"No... no! Don't die! Don't die!" said Kopa, choking up with emotions. "We can save you! We can get you out of this!"

"It... is my time, prince Kopa." The woman said. "For... if you c-can... stop this... evil... I may go in peace now... and... see my husband and son... once more."

"No!" said Kopa as the woman's head fell back and struck the wooden plank she was up against. Vitani gaped in sadness at the sight. Kopa shook the woman with his paw. "No! We can save you! You must live! You have to live to see the fall of Sauron! To see the next age of Middle Earth! To-"

But Kopa stopped right there. The woman was injured far too greatly. And even as the raging inferno around them continued to consume what was left of the village, all seemed to fall silent for both Kopa and Vitani. The woman was dead.

Kopa stood back up in shock. In sheer sadness, Vitani put her head against his mane, weeping into it. Not since Zira's attack on Kopa so many years ago had Vitani seen death like this before. Only this time, she knew for certain this woman would not be returning.

After only a few minutes, Kopa and Vitani left the remains of the burning village. They would've stayed to mourn the deaths of the other villagers, but the flames were just too intense. When they left, they had scattered patches of grey ash all over them, and although they avoided the smoke clearly, their lungs still felt uneasy from the ordeal. Smeagol did not ask about what happened there in that village. And neither Kopa nor Vitani ever spoke of it to another soul ever again. Smeagol would never know.

That night, Kopa and Vitani hardly slept. They did not dream, they did not rest easy, and they were not at all relaxed. The sight of that woman dying right in front of them was enough to drastically reignite their pure hatred for Sauron and the Ring. Sauron did that. He commanded his army to do so. Even if only Sauron's spirit remained only in the form of the Eye of Barad-Dur, his presence in Middle Earth felt all the more real again to them. Their purpose for fighting and walking so far had been rekindled. And once again, they knew their purpose for traveling so far: To stop Sauron or the forces of Mordor from spreading that devastation all across Middle Earth.

But although they didn't know it, there were others besides Sauron that wanted to rule with the One Ring of Power...

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this, and sorry if this chapter seemed a lot darker than usual. Please review!**


	13. The Shadow of Bravery

**Chapter XIII: The Shadow of Bravery**

The very first thing that Kiara felt waking her from uneasy sleep was the violent force of Zira's claws mercilessly slashing their way across her face. The instant that happened, her eyes shot open and she screamed in pain. In that single instant in time, Kiara thought she was going to die- that that was the moment she would never again see the light of day. But within a few seconds, that proved not to be the case. For when her screaming stopped, she looked ahead of her in the pitch black chamber. Zira's yellow piercing eyes stared her down, glowing slightly, and looking nothing short of demonic.

"It is time." Zira hissed. "The reign of lord Sauron will begin before the sun rises."

Her voice echoed throughout the chamber within Orthanc. And despite the lack of light, Kiara could feel deep gashes within her face now, and hot blood was running down her muzzle now. She moaned in pain, and placed her right paw over the wounds.

Suddenly Kovu, shocked by what Zira had done, shouted to Zira from the other end of the chamber,

"If you hurt her, you'll never _live_ to see Sauron's reign you wench!"

The two lionesses could hear the sound of Kovu's chain rattle around in the darkness, as if he were struggling to escape once more. They could hear him grunting in anger, clawing the obsidian floor and breathing heavily. Zira snickered.

"Don't be a fool, Kovu." She said. While she talked, she paced away from Kiara, still reeling from her wounds over to Kovu, past the Palantir. And within her voice, she had never in her life sounded so joyous and blissful... not even with Scar.

"In time... if you can put an end to your insolence, then perhaps I can have your death be quick and painless. What would you think would fit best? Having your throat slit by my claws, or to be thrown off of Orthanc, so you can see the sky one last time?"

Kovu felt nothing short of helpless. As he ripped at the floor with his claws, begging in vein for the chains to break, he felt as thought any light of hope had forsaken him and Kiara. Both he and the one he loved the most were in this because of him. Because of the Ring. Because of the thing that could engulf all of Middle Earth in flames within the span of a single day and night. Guilt upon powerlessness overcame the poor, scarred lion. Even in darkness, he turned his head away from Zira, for he felt like a demon just to look in her direction.

"Do what you want to me." He said helplessly. "But please... keep Kiara out of this. Let her go, she never did anything to deserve being here."

Zira walked up close to Kovu now. Kovu was laying on the floor, his body feeling weak and broken from hunger. He had lost count of how long he and Kiara had been kept there, but the feeling of hunger and thirst was something that they both shared.

"Oh, but you see, Kovu... she did do something to deserve being here. Do you know what that thing was, Kovu?" Zira hissed, putting her face close to his now. The tone of her voice was becoming eerie and demonic, as a follower of Sauron would be.

She paused. "Being born."

Kovu did not speak for a moment. But with high reluctance and pain, Kovu spoke to the lioness, "Why are you down here anyway? Haven't you done enough?"

"The Ring bearer has approached Isengard, Kovu. Your fellowship is at the walls of this place as we speak. And Saruman wishes to have you be witnesses to not only their bloody deaths, but to the birth to a new age of Middle Earth! The age of darkness!" Zira replied, laughing malignantly. In the blackness, Kovu's emerald green eyes widened, and he looked up to Zira's own piercing eyes at last. He could feel large amounts of sweat running all across his fur. Dried blood around his muzzle almost seemed to flow once more, and his very heart began to sting as though it had been infected with the worst toxins known to life itself.

"No... No!"

"Yes, Kovu!" Zira said. "The one they call Isildur's Bane shall be within my grasp once again! Sauron shall rule!"

Then, a flickering, orange light began to show upon the stairs of the chamber. And they heard the footsteps of Saruman coming down to them, echoing through the place. Soon, Saruman made himself known to them. He walked away from the steps and onto the shimmering black floor, holding a vibrant, fiery torch in his right hand, clutching his staff with his left. The light of the torch illuminated the room.

"Come now... don't be shy." Saruman said. "The age of the two towers is almost upon us."

Neither Kovu nor Kiara could so much as look upon the White Wizard without feeling every inch of their bodies sting in pain worse than any sword could ever cause. For all they knew, there was nothing that could be done. They thought that Saruman had won. Everyone they ever knew or cared about was going to die right in front of them. Kovu would never get to apologize to Kivuli, never be able to see Kopa, Vitani or Simba ever again. They would never marvel at the beauty or the peacefulness of the Pride Lands again, feel the grass or touch the water.

For them, helpless did not even begin to cover how they felt. However, even though the moment seemed more bleak than it had ever been, not all hope was dead. For as Kivuli once said, not all those who wander are lost...

* * *

"So then how _are_ we going to get over, Kivuli?" said Nala, who was pacing in circles in the grass, utterly losing her patience over the situation.

It was the dead of night. The moonlight was just barely breaking through the clouds, and ever member of the fellowship was still extremely weary and weak. The thicket of the woods around them were becoming increasingly unsettling and creepy. It wasn't until now that any of them considered just what could be within the woods surrounding Isengard. Timon and Pumbaa seemed especially worrisome about it. Timon and Zuri were laying against a tree together, staring in awe at the enormity of Orthanc in the distance. Timon seemed more unsettled by the sight of it than his mate was.

Kivuli, with his hood still up, looked at the massive wall with a sense of hopelessness, giving it an almost sad look.

"I will admit... this shall prove to be difficult." He said at last, which made nearly every member perk up.

When Timon heard Kivuli's words, he sat up in the grass and called to him, "Couldn't we just use the trees to climb over, or something?"

Kivuli glanced back at him for a moment, and sighed. He replied, "Timon, simplicity will not be with us in this. The trees do not stretch high enough for us to climb over with them. And the walls are too smooth for our claws to scale."

When he said that, Nala walked past Kivuli through the grass, and looked up morosely at the massive wall, with the grim, depressing clouds wisping with the wind up in the sky beyond it. Soon, she came right up to it. The lioness placed her paw against the obsidian wall, and extended her claws against it against all reasonable doubt. She felt that it was indeed far too smooth for her claws to grasp, regardless of how hard she tried. She took a deep breath.

"So then what can we do?" She asked wistfully.

When she looked back for an answer, Kivuli placed his right paw atop his hood, and he slid it down off of him, letting his jet black mane flow in the breeze. Given his sad look there, Nala was almost afraif of what he might say.

Kivuli replied, "Nala... I think it may be best for us to rest for the night. Not here, however, we cannot linger this close to Isengard."

The lioness gave Kivuli a rather shocked and horrified look as she turned herself back around to him.

"What?"

"Nala, please understand." Kivuli went on. "Everyone here is exhausted from the journey, myself included. And besides, an army of ten thousand strong dwells beyond those walls. We cannot risk death when we are so close to achieving what we came here for."

Nala, upon hearing what Kivuli was saying, became defensive. A provoked look of determination grew upon her face while she took a few steps closer to the lion.

"No! I am not going to just sleep here after coming all this way, while my daughter and her mate are being held against their will, with Saruman doing God knows what to them!"

Nala's tone grabbed the attention of them all. While Kivuli knew that she was never going to take this easily, and would want to go onward, one would never have known that she had ran two hundred miles restlessly through the mountains with the way she sounded.

Timon stood up now, and he came up to her. "Nala, I think the lion's right. I mean, we should really-"

Nala would never let Timon finish that sentence. "I can't believe you!" She snapped. "After coming all this way, you're going to tell me that there's no way over this wall and that we should wait until tomorrow?!"

"Please understand!" Kivuli said to her now. "There is a way over this wall, I can assure you. There is a mountain slope very near hear that leads into Saruman's territory. But if we are not well rested, it would be nothing short of suicide to attempt it!"

While Kivuli began talking, Nala paced around in circled, furiously trying to think of some way to continue onwards without any intervention.

"And besides", Kivuli continued. "Aside from skill alone, we also will need agility. Saruman, if he is powerful as I suspect, already knows that we are on the borders of his stronghold. If we are to get in at all without being seen, we must be as cunning and stealthy as we can."

Kivuli then looked up to the figure of Orthanc looming against the cloudy night sky. "I do not know for certain how large his army has grown by now, but it will most likely be ten thousand at minimum! Ten thousand bloodthirsty, war hungry orcs and men of Dunland, and what else I could not say. This kind of task can only be done if we are well rested for it, Nala. You must understand."

Nala, who had actually taken some deep consideration into Kivuli's words, stopped pacing in circles and looked at him intently. The look in her deep blue eyes read of distress, but mixed with passionate, destitute hope.

"How heavily guarded is the entrance?" she asked. Nala took a deep breath once more.

"I do not know." Kivuli replied. "All I know is that the entrance is where they will see us for certain."

Nala spoke not another word after that. Her entire body seemed to tense up as she inhaled deeply, looking up to the looming darkness that was Orthanc of Isengard. Her expression was easily readable as tenacious and hopeful. And eventually, she said in a low tone,

"If I don't come back... save them."

And with that, she turned around and sprinted forth to her right, racing through the clearing of the woods for the entrance to Isengard.

"Nala! Nala, wait!" Kivuli called to her as he went forth after her. He didn't bother to put up his hood as he did so. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, Timon and Zuri both got up from where they were casually laying in the grass, and the twoo meerkats sprinted forth towards where Pumbaa was.

"Pumbaa! Pumbaa, come on, she's officially lost it!" Timon shouted as the two meerkats mounted his back. The warthog looked just as concerned as they did about what was about to happen. And with that, the warthog went forth, chasing after the two lions. Now, the only one left there was Rafiki. He took a few steps forth, and then stopped. He looked up to the sky, still filled with the grim clouds of night.

"Oh, Mufasa... give dem strength. I fear what Saruman may be planning."

And with that, the baboon sprinted forth on all fours, clutching his stick in one of his hands, going after the remaining members of the felowship.

Nala was overcome with sudden determination to save Kiara and Kovu before the night grew old, willing to have herself killed to rescue the ones she cared about. She herself didn't know where it came from. Maybe it was her motherly side breaking free within her, or perhaps it was because the spirit of Simba himself was telling her to do so.

Whatever the reason, there was no longer any stopping Nala from running straight to the entrance of Saruman's stronghold in the dead of night. And if she wasn't careful, straight to her death...


	14. Zira's Ruminations

**Chapter**** XIV: Zira's Ruminations**

Miserable did not even begin to cover how both Kiara and Kovu were feeling at that same moment in time.

One hour previously when Zira had told them of the fellowship's arrival at the walls of Isengard, both of them had been dragged against their will by Saruman to the pinnacle of Orthanc in the dead of night, and they were reattached to more bulky and heavy chains that were linked to one of the four, knife-like spikes sticking up from the sides of the flat summit. And with them was Saruman and Zira. Saruman stood on the edge of the five hundred foot tower and looked downward to the desolation that was his domain, watching the place intently for any sign of the fellowship. And Zira merely sat beside where Kiara and Kovu were, smiling in absolute malicious bliss at their suffering and what was about to happen.

Kovu and Kiara were chained to the same horn of Orthanc together, so at the very least they were able to lay beside one another, doing their best to comfort each other. They lay on their stomachs next to each other against the roof of the tower, staring out into the vastness of the dark landscape. Beyond the fiery pits and barren stone that surrounded the tower a mile in every direction, lay the forests of Isengard that had been spared from the Uruk Hai's barbaric ways, still growing peacefully in the cloudy night. All upon the mountainsides, the trees looked nearly like a vast, green sea around the borders of hell itself.

Both of them had sad looks on their faces, their ears drooping depressingly, and Kovu had his arm around his mate warmly. The wind ruffled his mane around in the air as the guilt of the situation was consuming him, like a great wave enveloping a peaceful field of grass.

And Zira was just sitting there looking at them, enjoying every second of their despair.

"It's my fault." Kovu whispered to himself suddenly, breaking the eerie silence of the place. Kiara looked over to him sadly. Kovu went on, "If I hadn't attacked Kivuli, we would probably be at the Black Gate right now with Kopa. And now the entire world is probably about to go up in flames because of me."

Kiara whispered back to him gently, "It wasn't your fault, Kovu. The Ring could've taken any of us..."

Before Kiara could ever finish that thought, Zira scoffed from behind them. She hissed,

"I am so happy that the Ring chose you, Kovu. Because of it, I now have the satisfaction of watching both you and your little slut pay for your betrayal of your pride. And in return, you will get to watch me reclaim what I have longed for as long as I have known Scar."

The lioness chuckled softly while Saruman still stood on the opposite end of the place from them, watching and waiting for the fellowship to make its move. There was not a doubt in his mind that they would tread past the borders of his domain before the night would grow old.

Without meeting the gaze of her demonic eyes, Kovu said to Zira forcefully, "It was never about Scar. It was never about revenge, or killing Simba, or making me king, was it, Zira? It was always about you. You and that Ring, that's the real reason you put us through so much, wasn't it?"

Zira raised an eyebrow at Kovu's comment, and her tone became just a hint more surprised. "So, I see you are not as stupid as I thought."

Kovu said nothing. The poor lion remained silent as he looked down to the land around Orthanc, with the smoke still rising and filling the air thickly. Then, Kovu heard the sound of the thick chains rustle slightly around him. He looked around for a second, and looked over to Kiara. He saw that she was meddling around with the rusty, iron shackle latched to her wrist, staring down at it intently. She had her claws unsheathed, and it looked as though she was attempting to undo the lock on her wrist.

"What're you doing?" Kovu whispered. Kiara didn't look over to him as she replied, "Trying to figure out how to get out of this."

Suddenly, they heard the deep, cold voice of Saruman say to them from behind, "Do not think your words cannot be heard, Kiara. And do not try to escape. For if you are able to undo your latch, you shall meet your death before Kovu does."

The lioness shot a nasty glare back at Saruman for a second, one that looked as though she wanted to kill him. She turned back to the landscape around them, still moving one of her claws around within the hole of her lock. She knew almost for certain that she wouldn't be able to break free, but she didn't want to die without at least trying what she could. For a moment, she stopped this, and took a deep breath. Her arms extended outward, leaving her one free paw to hang over the edge of Orthanc, dangling casually five hundred feet above the ground. She looked nothing short of depressed.

"Kovu..." She started. The lion looked over to her hopefully.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to Kifo." She said solemnly. Kovu's ears drooped at the mention of his true father. After a moment of silence, he began to contemplate. And while he spoke, his tone became increasingly loud, anxious and fearful, which frightened Kiara ever so slightly.

"You know, Kiara... he once said that I would turn out to be one of Middle Earth's greatest heroes. Well I attacked Kivuli, abandoned my fellowship, found my real father because of it, lost him because of the Uruk Hai just when I was getting to know him, and now here we are, captured by Saruman, finding out that Zira's still alive, about to see the end of Middle Earth as we know it because the Ring got to me. What kind of hero is that? What would Simba say about me now?"

Kiara scooched over closer to her mate, and she nuzzled him passionately, his arm still around her body. She looked up to him from under his neck and gave a bit of a smile.

"Well... he would say that it still isn't too late. That we shouldn't give up hope."

"Yeah? Hope of what?" Kovu asked her. To this, Kiara replied whispering softly,

"Hope that we'll get out of this, Kovu. I think that when they get here, Saruman and Zira won't stand a chance."

"Is that what you think?" Zira hissed at them, breaking her silence up until then. Her statement was so sudden and so cold spirited, it actually startled both Kiara and Kovu a bit. Kovu looked back to her, finally meeting the gaze of her demonic eyes.

"Saruman's wizardry goes beyond what you could possibly imagine, Kiara. If it weren't for me wanting to kill them personally, they would be dead already."

Kovu gave Zira a glare. "You really are worse than Scar, you wench."

Zira narrowed her eyes at Kovu, her smile still fully intact. "And he would be proud for it." She said.

Kovu turned away from her once again. Breaking the silence once more, Saruman said, "The hour is drawing nearer."

Kiara and Kovu stayed as close as they could for comfort. Kiara in particular had many thoughts running through her mind. She knew she wanted to try to escape, but she needed just the right time for it. As soon as Saruman and Zira left, or if they would ever leave at all, she would give another try at loosening her rusty shackle with her claws. The hole to her lock wasn't particularly deep, so it was not beyond the realm of possibility. And at the same time, she still looked out to the vast forests.

All her life, she had had an unusual fascination with trees, especially those of the Pride Lands. She loved trees, their majesty, and the vibrant life that almost always seemed to be within them. And truthfully, it was the sight of this forest that was preventing her from loosing all hope. Something about the fact that they had gone untouched by the Uruk Hai inspired her, and kept her from loosing all hope. She only wished Kovu felt the same.

But her thoughts were interrupted by Kovu when at last, he had mustered the courage to speak to Zira, though he still didn't face her.

"Zira... tell me. How did you survive the fall at the river? How did you get involved with Saruman? What could've driven you so mad that you chose to worship Sauron?"

Up until that point, Kovu's hatred for Zira was so deep, he didn't even care about her enough to want to know how she got involved with Saruman. The same could be said for Kiara. But at that time, the question was tearing at Kovu to no end. He knew for certain that he saw her die in the river that day which already seemed to have happened an age ago. And yet here that same lioness was, alive and well (At least physically). How did Zira survive? Why did she go to Orthanc?

Saruman turned around and faced the three of them now. Kovu stood up and turned around, rousing the chains latched to his wrist, looking upon Zira closely and deeply. The wicked lioness stood up on all fours also, and took a few steps closer to them. She smiled blissfully.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before your curiosity could no longer be contained, Kovu. Because you're about to die, and because I'm feeling generous since the Ring is coming here, I may as well tell you exactly why I chose to join with Sauron and the two towers."

Immediately, Kiara's gaze was at last ripped away from the vast landscape around them to Zira's eyes, with her own eyes widened greatly.

"I said it takes more than a river to kill me. However, there is much more to it than that." Zira said. At this point, Kiara could hear Kovu's breathing become heavy and unpleasant.

"What are you talking about?" Kovu said to her. To this, Zira replied,

"You see, it all began the day you turned my pride against me... the day you two officially sealed Middle Earth's fate forever..."

From there, she began to pace all around in circles slowly atop of the summit of Orthanc, always being careful not to come too close to Kiara or Kovu. As she paced, her piercing gaze never left theirs.

"As foolproof as my tactic should have been, I knew that there was a chance that things could go wrong as they did. So while I was single handedly training you for it each day, I thought up an additional idea; a backup plan, as you would call it."

While she spoke, her voice was dark, unpleasant and almost seemed to cut through the very air that they breathed. And Kiara and Kovu simply stood there, listening closely, as reluctant as they were to do so.

"And that day when I hung off the cliff, I knew it was the perfect time to begin it. In spite of what you may have seen, I did not slip off by chance."

"You mean you let go on purpose you maniac!" Kovu called out to her. Zira did not reply to him.

"Yes, I did let go, Kovu, I merely made it look like it was accidental. For I knew precisely where that I went into river led to... can you guess where?"

Neither one of them said anything. Not because they didn't know, but because it felt like poison to them with every word they would speak to her.

"It led to here." Zira went on. "So I found my way here to Orthanc, back when trees still fully inhabited Saruman's domain. I entered the tower, and I suppose you could say that Saruman did not wish to oblige with me at first, being a lioness and all. However, before he could kill me like he wanted to, I told him who I was, and that I knew how to get the Ring."

Kiara and Kovu's eyes widened, not liking at all where she was going with this.

"And so when I informed him of everything, I became loyal to Sauron and we began creating an army worthy of Mordor. The same army that is taking the Pride Lands now as we speak."

Silence overcame them once more. Kovu gasped in horror at the revelation. Beforehand, he thought for certain that Zira was lying about the army being sent to the Pride Lands, to torture him and Kiara mentally. But he still gaped in horror, as did Kiara. When Zira spoke the next part, her voice became far more twisted, crazed and sick than it was before. The sudden shift was even enough to unsettle Saruman himself.

"You both thought I was deceiving you the first time, didn't you? Well, know that I'm not lying. As we speak, our army is storming those wretched lands, and they will not leave any alive, I can assure you."

Then, after a few seconds of horror induced silence, something snapped. Something in Kovu's mind broke. With his eyes widened, his face towards Zira became dementedly angry, and the look he gave her just then was enough to almost make it look like his fading scar reformed for just a moment. Kovu inhaled hard, and then lashed out a loud, hate filled roar that echoed throughout Isengard. The force of his roar even caught Kiara off guard. Saruman cringed at the force and the emotion of his roar, but Zira did nothing. She stopped pacing around Orthanc, and stopped right in front of him.

Before any more words could be uttered, Kovu's roar ended, and he once again forcefully tried to rip free of the chains. He pulled himself against their force, clawing at the summit, reaching out as far and as hard as he could to strike Zira. And the entire time, he was aggressively screaming fierce obscenities that even Kiara had no idea he knew of. Hate filled didn't even begin to describe Kovu's feelings towards both Zira and Saruman at that moment. He screamed things like,

"You'll never get away with this! I'll kill you, you hear me?! I will murder you with my bare claws!"

But it did not good. Zira simply stood there chuckling, watching Kovu's mental agony go down as he lay there, clawing the ground in front of her, rousing his chains greatly. And Kiara simply stood next to her mate, and she looked at Zira again. Tears filled her eyes now, realizing what Zira was doing.

"It is exactly as it seems, Kiara." Zira said. "Your home will be no more before the end of this night. Pride Rock shall fall. And even if your sorry excuse for a fellowship succeeds, I will not be stopped in finishing what I started so long ago."

Kiara's mouth fell open with shock, and her eyes flowed with tears down her face. She gasped in horror.

"Oh yes, Kiara. I know that Kopa is alive, I have seen in the Palantir. Know that this does not discourage me. In fact, getting to kill him a second time may just make this so much better than I hoped."

The horror of what was happening atop Orthanc would've been entirely unbearable for any of the fellowship members. They had no idea that Zira was here, and they also had no idea of just how badly Kiara and Kovu were being mentally tortured right then and there. Kiara fell onto her stomach next to Kovu, who's voice began to get scratchy and murkey from how loud he was screaming. Even in the cloudy darkness, Kiara, Zira and Saruman could all tell that his eyes were bloodshot. And with Zira's black soul, she enjoyed his mental agony to no end. And the same could be said for Saruman.

"Come, Zira." Saruman said at last, still holding his black staff. "The fellowship is near. We must inform lord Sauron that the age of darkness will begin shortly."

"With pleasure." Zira replied. And with no more words from the two of them, Saruman and Zira paced to the side of the flat summit, with silence once again overcoming the place. A great black staircase running down the sides of Orthanc from the summit to one lower level was there, and both Saruman and Zira began to walk down it to where the Palantir was. And this left Kiara and Kovu by themselves.

Kovu was sobbing upon the obsidian tiles that made up Orthanc's summit, his paws covering his eyes. Suffering was hardly a description at all for what he was feeling.

"I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna kill them both!" Kovu said softly, through his scratchy, worn voice. Kiara, upon hearing how badly her mate was suffering, laid against him and rested her head against his mane; not just for her own comfort, but for his as well. Kiara had stopped sobbing by now, but the worry and absolute sickness she was feeling now had yet to cease.

She contemplated the thoughts going through her mind now- The Pride Lands, the most majestic and historic lands in all of Middle Earth, rivaled only by the craftsmanship of the elves, was being ripped apart at that very moment by the Uruk Hai of Isengard. The same lands she and her ancestors walked upon as a child, the same spot she first met Kovu, the spot where her cubs had been born, was all being destroyed. And not only her, but the entire fellowship was helpless to stop it.

While resting upon Kovu's mane, she looked up to the sky, past the knife like spikes that loomed up all around her. Although the thick, grey clouds still covered the area, she could still make out the faint glow of the moon reaching through a particular spot. She looked upon the dim glow with a sense of hope, sadness and guilt. Even if they were miles away from the Pride Lands, she almost felt as though she were there again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Kovu.

"Kiara... I love you." He said. Kiara looked down to her mate, and she nuzzled him deeply and passionately.

"I love you too, Kovu." She replied sadly. Even though it was beyond reasonable hope by now, she still believed the fellowship could take down Saruman and Zira together. And soon, after a long silence, Kiara would begin to meddle with her lock once more.

But then, it was only a question of what would happen when Saruman discovers that the Ring bearer is no longer with the fellowship.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know that in the Lord of the Rings films, there was no staircase on the side of Orthanc, but we never are shown how Saruman gets to the top, so that was just my idea. Also, I'm sorry if it seems like I'm dragging this out longer than it needs to. I don't mean for this to to be like that, but if anything here seems too drawn out, just let me know so I can shorten it. Hope you enjoy, and please review!**


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